Maduro and wife Flores charged in US over alleged torture

Ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores both were hit with an additional US criminal charge stemming from accusations they tortured political opponents to retain ⁠their grip on power in the South American country.

Mr Maduro and Ms Flores were charged with an additional count of conspiracy to commit torture in addition to the drug trafficking charges they previously faced, according to a superseding indictment filed in Manhattan federal court.

In one instance, prosecutors said Mr Maduro in 2013 ordered the arrest of a Venezuelan military officer he suspected of planning a coup.

Members of Venezuela's military counterintelligence directorate then interrogated the officer while shocking the individual with a live electric wire around 20 times and hung the individual by the hands and feet for several minutes at a time, prosecutors said.

In 2022, an American citizen detained while entering Venezuela was accused of conspiring to assassinate Mr Maduro and was ‌tortured by military counterintelligence officers through beatings and ⁠shocks to the person's arms, legs and genitals, according to the indictment.

Ms Flores, 69, and Mr Maduro, 63, were captured by the US military on 3 January in their Caracas home and brought to New York to face the drug charges.

The surprise raid ended the socialist Mr Maduro's 13 years in power in oil-rich Venezuela, which has since boosted cooperation with the US under the leadership of Mr Maduro's former Vice President ‌Delcy Rodriguez.

Mr Maduro and Ms Flores pleaded ⁠not guilty to the drug charges and have been held at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center since their capture.

Their trial is scheduled for 1 June 2027.

Separately, US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, who is overseeing the case, denied a request by Ms Flores to be released from jail ahead of trial due to health reasons.

Ms Flores' lawyers had argued their client needs a cardiac procedure and wants to recover in a more comfortable environment.

The lawyers proposed moving her to a residence in the New York City area with round-the-clock private security, and said she is not ⁠a danger to the community.

In denying the motion for bail, Judge Hellerstein decided the evidence against Ms Flores appeared strong.

The judge also said Ms Flores, who wore a ⁠headset to listen to a simultaneous Spanish translation of the proceedings, appeared to be relatively healthy.

"For whatever it's worth, her appearance today is no worse and perhaps a little better than when I first met with her on her arraignment," Mr Hellerstein said, referring to her first appearance in court on 5 January.

"She was still bandaged up from the military invasion," Mr Hellerstein said.

Prosecutors in the Manhattan US Attorney's Office opposed Ms Flores' release.

They said Ms Flores has received adequate medical care at the detention centre, and if released poses an "extreme" risk of flight and danger to the public, including possible witness intimidation.

Prosecutors also said other judges have found it unfair to let some criminal defendants pay for their own out-of-jail supervision, because defendants of lesser means cannot afford it.

Judge Hellerstein's bail denial will not affect Ms Flores' trial or potential punishment.

If convicted, she faces a mandatory minimum 40-year sentence.

Ms Flores was Venezuela's attorney general and led its National Assembly before becoming first lady.

US prosecutors say she took hundreds of thousands of dollars ‌in bribes from a large drug trafficker.