Maduro Charged With Ordering Torture of Americans in Venezuelan Prison

JUST IN: US prosecutors charge Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro with ordering the torture of Americans held in a Venezuelan prison.

US prosecutors have charged Nicolas Maduro with ordering the torture of Americans.

The sitting president of Venezuela, now formally accused of directing the abuse of American citizens held in a Venezuelan prison. That's the allegation from federal prosecutors, announced this afternoon, and it lands on a man who already knows the inside of a US indictment. Washington charged him years ago over narco trafficking and put a bounty on his head. He's still in the palace in Caracas.

And that's the hard part of this story. Charging a head of state is one thing, getting him into an American courtroom is another entirely. Maduro doesn't travel where US marshals can reach him, and he isn't planning to start. So this indictment adds weight, it adds pressure, and it tells any American thinking about Venezuela exactly how Washington sees that regime.

For now, the charge sheet grows. The defendant stays untouchable.

This is Sara White, reporting for HIT.