Ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, pleaded not guilty to expanded US criminal charges accusing them of conspiring to torture political opponents, rejecting the allegations as false.
The couple appeared before US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein in Manhattan federal court, wearing prison clothing and shackled at the ankles. The revised indictment expands an existing drug trafficking case to include allegations that they helped oversee a state-sponsored campaign of torture and repression.
When asked to enter a plea, Maduro described the charges as “false accusations and false testimony” through a courtroom interpreter. He twice resisted the judge’s request to enter a plea, prompting Hellerstein to say that a not-guilty plea would be entered on his behalf.
“I reject this document in its entirety,” Maduro said, referring to the indictment.
Flores, a former attorney general, told the court after confirming she had read the Spanish version of the indictment: “I am completely innocent. I am not guilty.”
Prosecutors with the Manhattan US Attorney’s office allege that Maduro directed Venezuelan officials to torture opposition politicians and military personnel suspected of plotting against him to maintain his grip on power.
The indictment describes alleged abuses including beatings, asphyxiation and electric shocks, and accuses Maduro of recommending torture methods, receiving updates on victims’ treatment and threatening to kill a prisoner’s child as a form of psychological torture.
Flores is accused of helping develop the system of repression and ordering the torture of specific individuals, according to the indictment. Neither defendant is accused of personally carrying out acts of torture.
In one alleged incident from 2014, Maduro directed officials to kidnap military personnel to obtain information about suspected dissidents. When some detainees remained defiant, he allegedly told officials to “squeeze them harder”. Flores agreed with the plan and rejected an alternative proposal to gather information by infiltrating suspected dissident groups, prosecutors allege.
The couple was captured at their Caracas home on January 3 during a US military raid ordered by President Donald Trump and brought to the United States to face drug trafficking charges. They have since been held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
Maduro and Flores previously pleaded not guilty to allegations that they conspired to help drug traffickers ship cocaine into the United States. Their lawyers have argued that the case should be dismissed on immunity grounds, saying Maduro was the leader of a foreign country and Flores its first lady.
The revised indictment covers alleged torture dating back to 2013, when Maduro succeeded his mentor, Hugo Chávez, as president. Maduro led Venezuela until his capture in January and has repeatedly denied wrongdoing. He has also been under investigation by the International Criminal Court over alleged crimes against humanity linked to the crackdown on opponents.
The trial has been postponed by two weeks and is now scheduled to begin on June 14, 2027. Maduro’s lawyer, Barry Pollack, described the revised timetable as “very aggressive” given the additional allegations but said he hoped the schedule could be met.
The prosecution of foreign officials in the United States for alleged torture is rare. Under international law, torture can be prosecuted outside the country where it occurred, regardless of the victims’ nationality.
Outside the Manhattan courthouse, anti-Maduro protesters called for justice as the couple appeared in court. Demonstrators carried Venezuelan flags and signs, including one reading “NO IMMUNITY FOR TYRANNY”.
“Today justice begins for Venezuelans,” one protester said, accusing the governments of Chávez, Maduro and Delcy Rodríguez of perpetuating a dictatorship. The protester said Venezuelans had endured persecution, torture and murder, adding: “We cannot have short memories as Venezuelans.”
Rodríguez, Maduro’s former vice president, has led Venezuela since his capture and has increased cooperation with Washington. Trump has cited Maduro’s capture and the reset in relations with Venezuela as a foreign policy success ahead of the November 3 US midterm elections.
Maduro and Flores are due back in court for another pretrial hearing on December 17.
(With agency inputs from Reuters and AP via PTI)
