Venezuela’s former president and his wife denied new federal charges in a New York court, with a trial scheduled for June 2027.
Venezuela’s former president Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, entered not guilty pleas in a New York City courtroom on Thursday to newly unsealed federal charges of conspiracy to commit torture.
Courtroom appearance in New York
BBC News reported that both defendants wore beige jail uniforms and appeared to have lost weight while in custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. When addressing the court through a translator, Maduro said, “I reject this document entirely,” and denied what he called false testimony and accusations. Judge Alvin Hellerstein interrupted Maduro and entered a not guilty plea on his behalf. Flores also addressed the court through a translator, stating, “I am completely innocent. I am not guilty.” She didn’t secure bail after petitioning a judge to allow her release on bond because of heart issues and other medical conditions.
Details of the torture indictment
Federal prosecutors unsealed the torture conspiracy charge last week. According to Al Jazeera, US Attorney Jamie McDonald said Maduro and Flores took part in a torture conspiracy spanning more than two decades that involved the mistreatment of United States citizens alongside earlier narcotics and weapons charges.
Prosecutors stated the couple organized and ran a violent system of repression that targeted people considered disloyal, political opponents, and anyone seen as a threat to their illegal drug operations. The indictment alleges that thousands of Venezuelans suffered beatings, electric shocks, water pouring, sleep deprivation, suffocation, rape, forced nudity, starvation, prolonged isolation, and psychological abuse, as well as threats against their families. The court papers say Maduro personally urged enforcers in 2014 to press detained military personnel harder to extract information, but prosecutors didn’t accuse Maduro or Flores of directly carrying out physical abuse themselves.
Earlier charges and immunity claims
The torture counts follow earlier US charges against Maduro, Flores, their son, and other accomplices. Those earlier counts accused them of narco-terrorism, cocaine importation conspiracy, and possessing machineguns and destructive devices, alleging they worked together with cartels designated as terrorist groups.
Lawyers for the couple have asked the court to dismiss the case, arguing Maduro is the leader of a sovereign nation and qualifies for sovereign immunity. The defense also contends that American forces acted illegally when taking him into custody. Maduro previously described the US charges as an imperial plan to secure Venezuelan oil reserves. During his first court appearance in January, he stated he was a decent man, remained the country’s president, and had been kidnapped.
Political succession and upcoming trial
Maduro became president of Venezuela in 2013, though political opposition figures and outside monitors contested his re-elections, most recently in 2024. American military forces seized Maduro and Flores in Caracas in January and flew them to New York, where they remain jailed.
Their federal trial is scheduled for June 2027. In Caracas, former Vice President Delcy Rodriguez has served as interim president following Maduro’s capture. While Rodriguez initially condemned the American military operation as an illegal kidnapping, she has since stayed close to the Trump administration and led efforts to open the state-owned Venezuelan oil industry to foreign corporations.
