Nicolás Maduro and his wife face new charges over alleged torture of Americans
· CNNProsecutors in New York brought new charges against former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores on Thursday over the alleged torture of Americans and others who were held in Venezuelan government custody in recent years.
They each face an additional charge of conspiracy to commit torture, according to the indictment. CNN first reported on Wednesday that the charges were expected.
Prosecutors allege when Maduro became president in 2013 he “authorized the use of torture against specific individuals and oversaw a system designed to use torture, arbitrary detention, and violence as a means of repression against the political opposition,” the indictment said.
Barry Pollack, Maduro’s attorney, said, “President Maduro denies the charges in the new indictment and looks forward to his day in court.”
The indictment outlines disturbing allegations of torture of both Americans and Venezuelans detained during Maduro’s time in government, including beatings, electrocutions, asphyxiation and rape. One American who was detained was allegedly forced to eat his own vomit.
The new charges relate to what the US government has said was the wrongful detention of more than a dozen US citizens in Venezuelan prisons when Maduro led a repressive regime in Venezuela.
Investigators have also discussed charging several additional people for their alleged role in the torture of Americans, according to a source familiar with the matter, people briefed on the investigation told CNN Wednesday.
US Attorney Jamie McDonald said at a press conference after the hearing that “Maduro, Flores and other high-ranking members of their inner circle used a violent system of torture and repression to maintain their power in Venezuela. They did this for 25 years to stifle political dissent until the US government apprehended Maduro and Flores earlier this year.”
The indictment alleges “conduct that is truly unthinkable,” McDonald said.
“The members of Maduro’s broad conspiracy were not just sitting behind a desk. These members of the conspiracy were holding the shovel. American citizens were tortured, and so were thousands of Venezuelans.”
McDonald called the allegations “the epitome of corruption.”
“This conduct, we allege, has caused significant harm to Americans, to US citizens and generational harm to Venezuelans,” McDonald said.
CNN has reached out to lawyers for Maduro and Flores.
Maduro and his wife were captured in a US military raid in January from the presidential palace in Caracas. They have pleaded not guilty to narcoterrorism conspiracy and other charges and are held without bail in New York.
Prosecutors said the new charges alleging “horrific” acts should be considered as a reason why Flores should not get bail.
Flores appeared at a hearing Thursday where her lawyer asked that she be moved to house arrest ahead of trial.
The judge denied that motion, saying Flores is a flight risk and that he takes her assurances that she won’t flee with “many grains of salt.”
“With all the money that’s involved and all the contacts Ms. Flores has with the Venezuelan government and the people in it, the risk is serious,” Hellerstein said. “There’s no combination that will make it less serious a risk.”
If she were to escape, Venezuela probably wouldn’t extradite her back to the US to face the indictment, the judge said, adding, “there’s always ways to get out.”
The defense has also argued Flores’ health is declining and that she needs to undergo treatment and convalesce outside the general population cell where she’s currently being held.
Judge Hellerstein said the defense’s assertion is premature because Flores has declined to undergo certain diagnostic tests, including a cardiac catheterization.
Flores has not yet been arraigned on the new conspiracy to commit torture charge unsealed in a superseding indictment Thursday before the hearing.
The judge said he will post the arraignment date on the docket when it is finalized.
Maduro’s lawyer is challenging the legality of the arrest and argues the former president should have immunity since the alleged conduct occurred while he was in office.
The Venezuelan government is not joining in claiming immunity on his behalf, according to the prosecution.
Allegations of torture
More than a dozen Americans were detained by the Maduro government, which was accused by US government and advocates of using them as political pawns.
According to the indictment, one Venezuelan military officer was shocked using a live electrical wire approximately 20 times and hit on his legs, back and head with fists, belts and an object that appeared to be a pipe. The officer was hung from only his hands and feet, and waterboarded — putting his head under water to simulate drowning — about 30 times, according to prosecutors.
A US citizen accused of participating in a conspiracy to assassinate Maduro was detained and tortured in January 2022, prosecutors say.
He was eventually released and returned to the US in October.
During his detention, “The officers punched him in the face and abdomen, covered his face, and poured a noxious liquid over his face that caused him to vomit, which the officer then forced him to eat,” the indictment said.
At some point he was transferred to Boleita Norte prison for more than eight months, where he endured further torture like electrocution and forced injections the victim says caused seizures, the indictment said.
“That torture included electric shock to Victim-7’s arms, legs, and genitals; asphyxiation; beatings; deprivation of food and water; and forced injections of a substance that caused Victim-? to experience seizures,” it said.
He saw other Americans tortured at the prison, the indictment says.
The most recent allegation of torture was in January 2025, following the presidential election, when a US citizen was arrested at his home while officials were looking for someone else. Prosecutors say the American was placed in the basement at the detention facility with a hood over his head and his hands were cuffed behind his back. Over two days, the indictment alleges, he was beaten hourly in the head, stomach and face, resulting in permanent injury to his eye.
Several Americans detained by the Maduro government have spoken out about the torture say they were subjected to while they were imprisoned. Matthew Heath and Osman Khan, who were freed in a prisoner swap in October 2022, alleged in a lawsuit that they were subjected to waterboarding, electrocution, threats of sexual assault, use of mind-altering drugs, and periods of solitary confinement. Heath, a US Marine veteran, attempted suicide while he was detained.
Heath told CNN on Thursday the new charges against Maduro and his wife feel “like justice is being served.”
The “CITGO 6,” a group of six American oil executives who were lured to Venezuela in 2017 and detained for nearly five years, also say they were subjected to brutal conditions while in Venezuelan detention. In lawsuits filed against their employer — Citgo — Tomeu Vadell, Alirio Jose Zambrano and Jose Luis Zambrano said they were subjected to torture while imprisoned.
Maduro and his wife shifted blame on the instability in Venezuela onto the United States resulting in the detention of the six oil executives — including five Americans. The Citgo-6 were detained in Venezuela and charged with corruption in 2017. After that, authorities allege the abuse of American citizens by Venezuelans authorities increased.
All of them had been held in the notorious General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence (DGCIM) — which was “responsible for arbitrary detentions, ill-treatment and torture of political opponents and their relatives,” according to a United Nations report.
That report found that DGCIM “routinely resorted” to torture practices “including electric shocks, suffocation with plastic bags, waterboarding, beatings, sexual violence, water and food deprivation, stress positions and exposure to extreme temperatures” in order to “extract information and confessions, intimidate, and punish the detainees.”
María Oropeza, state coordinator of the Vente Venezuela party, responded to the anticipated new charges over the alleged torture of Americans.
“This is good news for those of us who want justice, not so much for those who still believe that they will return,” she wrote on X. “I only hope that someday they will face charges for torturing Venezuelans.”
This story was updated with additional information.
CNN’s Michael Rios and Lauren del Valle contributed to this report.