US prosecutors expected to add torture allegations against Maduro and Flores

US prosecutors are expected to bring new charges against former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, over allegations that Americans held in Venezuela were tortured, according to reports by ABC News Australia, the BBC and the South China Morning Post. The charges could be filed as soon as Thursday, local time, but the Manhattan US Attorney’s Office has not confirmed the plans. The allegations concern the detention of more than a dozen US citizens during Maduro’s 13-year presidency, the reports said.

CNN first reported the possible charges, citing people familiar with the investigation. The South China Morning Post said a US official briefed on the investigation confirmed that new criminal charges were expected, while noting that the alleged victims’ identities and other details were not immediately available. The reports also indicate that prosecutors are considering charges against additional people accused of participating in the alleged torture.

Neither the reports nor the US authorities have publicly set out the precise conduct that would form the basis of the new counts. The Manhattan prosecutor’s office declined requests for comment, and lawyers for Maduro and Flores did not immediately respond. Maduro and Flores were seized by US forces from their homes in Caracas on January 3 and taken to New York.

They are already facing US charges connected to alleged drug trafficking, weapons offences and related conspiracies. Both have pleaded not guilty. The BBC reported that their trial is scheduled to begin in June 2027, while ABC described it as expected to begin in June.

Maduro’s lawyer, Barry Pollack, told CBS, according to the BBC, that he had not been given notice of any additional charges. The former president and Flores have challenged the existing case, arguing that Maduro’s status as the leader of a sovereign country gives him immunity from prosecution and that his forcible removal was unlawful. The judge has not ruled on those requests.

Washington previously accused Maduro’s government of using the detention of Americans to seek concessions, including relief from financial sanctions. ABC cited the cases of five oil executives arrested on corruption charges. They were released in 2022 in exchange for two nephews of Flores who had been convicted in the US of drug trafficking, the report said.

Since Maduro’s capture, Venezuela has been led by his former vice-president, Delcy Rodríguez. The reports say Rodríguez has increased cooperation with the Trump administration. Maduro and Flores are being held in a federal jail in Brooklyn.

Flores is due in Manhattan federal court on Thursday for a bond hearing, where her lawyers are expected to seek her release on health grounds. Any new charges would be allegations requiring proof in court.