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A superseding indictment unsealed on October 8, 2026, in a Manhattan federal court charged Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores with one count of conspiracy to commit torture in addition to previous allegations that they participated in a narco-terrorism scheme to flood the United States with cocaine, according to a Reuters report from the court document. The charges stem from accusations that Maduro authorized the use of torture against specific individuals and oversaw a system of arbitrary detention and violence aimed at repressing political opposition while he held power, the indictment stated. Prosecutors described how the couple stayed in power by terrorizing perceived opponents through persecution that included the harassment, arrest, assault and killing of thousands of Venezuelans acting at the government’s behest.
The indictment detailed a 2013 case in which Maduro allegedly ordered the arrest of a Venezuelan military officer suspected of plotting a coup, after which members of the military counterintelligence directorate shocked the individual with a live electric wire about 20 times and hung the person by the hands and feet for several minutes at a time, Reuters reported from the court document. In a separate 2022 incident, a U.S. citizen detained while entering Venezuela on accusations of conspiring to assassinate Maduro endured beatings, electric shocks to the arms, legs and genitals, and other mistreatment by counterintelligence officers before eventual release, according to the indictment cited by Al Jazeera. The new allegations focus on the torture of U.S. citizens and other detainees held in Venezuelan facilities during Maduro’s rule, CNN reported in advance of the unsealing.
Maduro, 63, and Flores, 69, have been held without bail at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since U.S. forces captured them during a pre-dawn raid on their Caracas compound on January 3, 2026, the Associated Press reported. Both pleaded not guilty to the original four counts that included narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, and weapons offenses when they were arraigned shortly after their transfer to New York, according to court records referenced by CBS News. The surprise operation ended Maduro’s 13 years as president of the oil-rich nation and led to increased cooperation between Venezuela and the United States under the leadership of his former vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, a Reuters assessment found.
The torture charge builds on a March 2020 indictment that first targeted Maduro and 14 other current or former Venezuelan officials for allegedly partnering with Colombian rebel groups and drug cartels to traffic thousands of tons of cocaine into the United States each year, the Justice Department stated in its original filing. That earlier case accused the group of providing law enforcement protection and logistical support to traffickers while enriching themselves and their families, according to a congressional research service overview of the prosecution. Maduro has denied all charges and described his capture as a kidnapping, while his lawyers have not immediately responded to requests for comment on the latest developments, multiple outlets including Gulf News reported.
A 2022 report by the United Nations Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela concluded that the country’s intelligence agencies committed crimes against humanity as part of a high-level government plan to repress dissent through systematic torture, The Guardian noted in its coverage of the findings. The mission documented 122 cases of victims subjected to electric shocks, asphyxiation, stress positions and sexual violence by agents of the Directorate General of Military Counterintelligence and other security forces operating from facilities in Caracas and across the country, according to the UN assessment. Former employees of the agencies told investigators that Maduro had directly ordered some instances of torture, the report added.
Human rights organizations have long accused Maduro’s government of using arbitrary detentions and torture in Venezuelan prisons to silence opponents, with the new U.S. charges lending further weight to those claims as the case proceeds, an Al Jazeera summary of regional reporting indicated. The couple’s trial in federal court is scheduled to begin on June 1, 2027, according to officials cited by Just the News. Flores has separately sought bail citing health concerns including a heart condition, though that request remains unresolved ahead of the proceedings. UNHCR data places the number of forcibly displaced Venezuelans at more than 7.6 million as of June 2026, a figure the agency attributes in large part to the prolonged political and economic crisis that intensified during Maduro’s years in office.
