US Charges Maduro and Wife with Torture Conspiracy

Thu Oct 08 2026 17:35:01 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

Former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife face new US charges of conspiracy to commit torture, added to existing drug‑trafficking and weapons allegations.

US prosecutors have added torturing‐conspiracy charges to the case against Venezuela’s former president Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores. The accusations, announced Thursday, come after the duo’s arrest in a dawn raid on their Caracas compound and subsequent transfer to a Brooklyn detention centre in January. Authorities say the alleged torture involved U.S. citizens held in Venezuela while Maduro was in power. Maduro and Flores, 63 and 69, have denied the charges and face a trial slated for June 2027.

US Charges Maduro and Wife with Torture Conspiracy

Image: Reuters — Captured President Nicolas Maduro attends arraignment in Manhattan, Jan. 5, 2026.

Prosecutors in the United States have accused Venezuela’s former leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores of conspiracy to commit torture.

The fresh charges were made public Thursday, adding to the drug‑trafficking and weapons allegations already filed against the couple. The two have denied all accusations.

Maduro, 63, and Flores, 69, have been held since January in a Brooklyn detention centre after U.S. forces seized them in a pre‑dawn raid on their Caracas compound.

Human rights organisations have long condemned systematic torture in Venezuelan prisons, and the new accusations link the alleged torturing to U.S. citizens once detained in Venezuela during Maduro’s rule.

Both defendants are scheduled to stand trial in June 2027.