Maduro and Flores plead not guilty to new US torture conspiracy indictment

Right · 2Ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, 63, and his wife Cilia Flores, 70, were due in US court on Thursday 15 October 2026 to answer a new indictment accusing them of conspiring to torture political opponents, and Reuters later reported that they pleaded not guilty. 1 2 Right · 2The arraignment took place before US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein in Manhattan federal court, with a start time set for 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT). 1 2 Right · 1The additional charges were brought the previous Thursday and significantly expanded the US criminal case; the couple had already pleaded not guilty to charges that they abused their power to help drug traffickers ship cocaine, and their lawyers have said they deny the torture charges too. 1

Right · 2Prosecutors with the Manhattan US Attorney's office say Maduro directed officials to torture opposition politicians and military personnel accused of plotting against him to maintain power. 1 2 Right · 2In one incident described in the indictment, Maduro in 2014 allegedly directed officials to kidnap military personnel to extract information about possible dissidents and told them to "squeeze them harder" when some remained defiant; Flores allegedly agreed with the plan at the meeting and dismissed an alternative of infiltrating the ranks. 1 2 Right · 2Maduro and Flores are not accused of personally carrying out any torture. Their trial is scheduled to begin on 1 June 2027, and each would face a mandatory minimum sentence of 50 years in prison if convicted on all charges. 1 2

Right · 2The US military captured the couple at their Caracas home in a raid on 3 January, ordered by President Donald Trump, and flew them to New York to face drug trafficking charges announced that day; they have since been held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. 1 2 Right · 2Relations between Maduro, a socialist, and Washington were tense during his 13 years in power: successive US administrations imposed sanctions citing alleged human rights violations, corruption and election-rigging, while Maduro accused the United States of seeking his ouster to gain greater control of Venezuela's natural resources. 1 2 Right · 2Former vice president Delcy Rodriguez has led Venezuela since Maduro's capture and has ramped up cooperation with the United States, and Trump has touted the capture and the reset in relations as a key foreign policy success ahead of the 3 November midterm elections. 1 2