In brief
In a federal courtroom in New York on 15 October 2026, ex‑Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and wife Cilia Flores entered pleas of not guilty to newly filed charges of conspiracy to commit torture. The U.S. indictment, expanding on earlier accusations of narco‑terrorism and drug trafficking, alleges a state‑run regime that used electric shocks, rape and other brutal tactics against opponents. Both defendants asserted sovereign immunity and sought dismissal of the case, arguing that their arrest was illegal. The trial is slated for June 2027, but the controversy has reignited international scrutiny over Venezuela’s human‑rights record.
Venezuela's former leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, appeared in court on Thursday to plead not guilty to new charges of conspiracy to commit torture.
The U.S. government initially accused Maduro of narco‑terrorism, drug trafficking and weapons‑related offenses. A week later, prosecutors broadened the case by adding counts that the couple created and maintained a violent system of repression that saw thousands of Venezuelans killed, harassed and tortured.
Maduro and Flores were seized in January during a U.S. military raid. Afterward, they were transported to New York, where they remain in custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
During the arraignment, the pair denied the new allegations, calling them “false accusations and false testimony against me.” Maduro reportedly rejected the document in Spanish through a translator, while Flores affirmed her innocence through the same channel.
Judge Alvin Hellerstein interrupted their statements and recorded the court’s entry of not guilty pleas for both defendants. Their joint lawyers argued that Maduro, as a former head of state, is protected by sovereign immunity and that the forced arrest was illegal.
The indictment details alleged torture methods including electric shock, asphyxiation, rape, forced nudity, prolonged isolation, starvation and psychological abuse. It also claims that the regime used such tactics against specific individuals and even U.S. citizens.
Prosecutors have also accused the couple, their son, and associates of a cocaine‑trafficking conspiracy tied to cartels named as terrorist groups. Maduro has previously described these charges as an “imperial” strategy to seize Venezuela’s oil wealth.
Flores unsuccessfully petitioned a judge for bond release, citing heart problems and other health issues while held at the detention center.
The case, expected to go to trial in June 2027, has drawn international attention to the continuing abuses in Venezuela and the limits of U.S. jurisdiction over former heads of state.
