US prosecutors hit ousted Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro with torture charges

U.S. federal prosecutors unveiled a sweeping superseding indictment against ousted Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, adding severe torture and state-sponsored repression charges to their existing criminal case.

The additional charges, brought last Thursday, significantly expanded the US criminal case against Maduro, 63, and Flores, 70.

They previously pleaded not guilty to charges that they abused their power to help drug traffickers ship cocaine.

Lawyers have said they denied the torture charges as well.

Maduro and Flores are accused of orchestrating a violent state machinery responsible for systemic torture—including electric shocks, severe beatings, asphyxiation, and psychological abuse—to crush political opposition and maintain power.

The updated case details the abuse of U.S. citizens detained in Venezuela, with prosecutors stating that more than a dozen Americans were targeted, facing extreme interrogation tactics.

Prosecutors 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 in the South American country.

In one alleged incident described in the indictment, Maduro in 2014 directed officials to kidnap military personnel to draw information out of them about possible dissidents, and told officials to "squeeze them harder" when some remained defiant.

The indictment alleges that Maduro personally signed off on specific torture methods, watched a video of a forced confession, and even threatened a prisoner's child.

Flores, a former attorney general, is accused of helping design the repressive apparatus and ordering specific abuses.

Maduro and Flores have been held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since being seized by U.S. forces in Caracas.

They previously pleaded not guilty to long-standing narco-terrorism and cocaine trafficking charges, and their defense attorneys maintain they are protected by head-of-state immunity.

During a recent court appearance, a federal judge denied a health-related bail request for Flores.