U.S. prosecutors have filed new charges against former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, accusing them of torturing American citizens held in Venezuelan government custody, the news was reported by Efecto Cocuyo, citing CNN.
The charges relate to the illegal detention and alleged torture of more than a dozen American citizens in Venezuelan prisons during Maduro's 13 years in power.
The allegations include waterboarding, electric shocks, threats of sexual assault, use of drugs that affect mental state, and prolonged isolation.
Washington has previously accused Venezuelan authorities of illegally detaining American citizens and using some detainees as a tool of pressure in negotiations with the US.
Among those detained were executives of Citgo, the US-based subsidiary of Venezuela's state-owned oil company. Six executives were arrested in 2017 and held for years before being released in a prisoner swap in 2022.
Maduro and Flores were captured by US forces in Caracas on January 3 and transferred to New York, where they remain in federal custody.
The couple faces federal charges in the US related to alleged drug trafficking and weapons offenses. Both have pleaded not guilty.
The new charges will be added to the existing criminal case against the Venezuelan leader and his wife. US authorities have not released a full list of alleged victims or all the details of the new charges.
Flores is expected to appear in federal court in Manhattan on Thursday, where her lawyers are seeking her release from custody on health grounds.
Her defense has proposed that she remain under supervised house arrest while receiving medical treatment. Prosecutors oppose the request, citing, among other things, the risk of flight and the possibility of witness intimidation.
Maduro and Flores are expected to stand trial in New York on the existing charges on June 1, 2027.
