Maduro and His Wife Charged With Conspiring to Torture Opponents, Including Americans, in New U.S. Indictment
A superseding indictment unsealed Oct. 8, 2026, in New York charges Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores with conspiracy to commit torture.
Federal prosecutors in New York have charged former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, with conspiring to torture political opponents and others, including U.S. citizens held in Venezuelan custody.
A superseding indictment unsealed on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, charges each of them with one count of conspiracy to commit torture, The Associated Press and NBC 10 WJAR reported. The new count is added to the drug-trafficking case the couple already faces in Manhattan federal court.
What the indictment alleges
The indictment alleges that Maduro authorized torture, arbitrary detention and violence to suppress the political opposition while he was in power. The alleged abuse included electric shocks, beatings and asphyxiation.
Flores, a former Venezuelan legislator and attorney general, is accused of helping to develop the system and of ordering torture in some cases.
The indictment describes the alleged abuse of three U.S. citizens who were held in Venezuela. FBI Director Kash Patel wrote on X that the government “subjected over a dozen American citizens to torture while held in custody of the Venezuelan government.”
Where the case stands
Maduro and Flores were captured in Caracas by U.S. forces in January 2026 and have been held in Brooklyn since. They have pleaded not guilty to the earlier charges, which include narco-terrorism and cocaine-trafficking counts. It was not immediately clear when they would be arraigned on the new count. Their trial is scheduled for June 2027.
Maduro has called his capture a kidnapping and himself a prisoner of war. His lawyers have asked for the case to be dismissed, arguing that he has immunity as a former head of state.
On the same day the indictment was unsealed, Flores was in court to ask to be released to home confinement because of heart problems. Prosecutors opposed the request, calling her an extreme flight risk and a danger to the public.
The allegations have not been proven in court.
Separately, a businessman wanted in a bribery case tied to Maduro’s government was taken into U.S. custody on Oct. 11, 2026. Read about Alvaro Pulido’s case.
