US charges Maduro and Cilia Flores with torture and repression in Venezuela

JUST IN: US federal prosecutors charge former Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores with torture and repression, adding to their existing drug trafficking and narco-terrorism case in New York.

US prosecutors just charged Nicolas Maduro and his wife with torture.

The new indictment lands on top of the drug trafficking and narco-terrorism case they already face in New York. It alleges that between 1999 and 2025, Maduro, Cilia Flores and their inner circle ran a violent system of repression in Venezuela, with thousands detained, tortured or killed by state agents. You can see the couple here at a state event, flanked by the military the indictment says did much of that work.

Prosecutors say victims endured beatings, simulated drowning and electric shocks, including at least three American citizens. The testimony comes from at least three former senior officials, and ex intelligence chief Hugo Carvajal has already pleaded guilty and offered to talk. The couple have been held in Brooklyn since January, and on the same day these charges dropped, a judge denied Flores house arrest, citing extreme flight risk.

The defence is claiming head of state immunity. Washington's answer is simple, it never recognised him as president. Trial begins June 2027.

This is Sara White, reporting for HIT.