US charges former Venezuela president Maduro with conspiracy to torture opponents
US authorities have added torture allegations to the criminal case against former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, accusing him of helping oversee a system of abuse aimed at silencing political opponents and keeping his government in power.The revised indictment, unsealed on Thursday, charges Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, with conspiring to commit torture. Maduro was already facing US charges over an alleged conspiracy to send cocaine into the country.The new allegations accuse Maduro of authorising torture, arbitrary detention and violence against opponents during his time as president. The indictment says thousands of Venezuelans were “harassed, threatened, arrested, prosecuted, assaulted, tortured, or killed” by people acting at the direction of his government.It alleges that methods of abuse included electric shocks, beatings and asphyxiation. In one case, Maduro allegedly threatened to have a prisoner’s child killed “as a form of psychological torture.”
Three US citizens among alleged victims
The indictment details alleged involvement by Venezuela’s military intelligence agency, DGCIM, which for years was headed by Gen. Hugo Carvajal, one of Maduro’s co-defendants.Carvajal later broke with Maduro, pleaded guilty in New York last year to drug trafficking charges and has offered to testify against his former leader.The revised indictment says three US citizens were among those allegedly tortured, although their identities were not disclosed.One was allegedly punched, subjected to electric shocks and forced to eat his own vomit during eight months in detention. Another was allegedly beaten so severely that he needed a lengthy hospital stay and had a gun placed in his mouth.The third was allegedly handcuffed, hooded and beaten every half hour for two days, resulting in permanent damage to an eye.Maduro has previously faced lawsuits in US courts brought by Americans who said they were beaten while detained in Venezuela. He has denied wrongdoing.Maduro has also been under investigation by the International Criminal Court for years over alleged crimes against humanity linked to his crackdown on political opponents.
Flores seeks house arrest on health grounds
Flores appeared in court on Thursday as her lawyers asked for her release from jail and sought permission for her to remain under house arrest because of health problems.Her lawyers argued that she has medical conditions that cannot be properly treated in prison and could instead be kept at a New York residence under 24-hour security. They said she had suffered permanent scarring after being “thrown against a wall or dresser” during the US operation that led to her capture.Flores, 69, has lost 25 pounds, or about 11 kg, while being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, according to her lawyers. They said doctors had told her she might require heart surgery and that she continues to suffer from “lingering lightheadedness, dizziness and shortness of breath”. They also said she may have suffered a minor heart attack in July.Prosecutors opposed her release, describing her as an “extreme risk of flight and danger to the public”. They said she had already been taken to a local hospital when medical treatment was required.Both Maduro and Flores have been in custody in New York since early January, when US forces seized them from their home in Caracas in a night-time operation.
Both deny US drug charges
Maduro and Flores have pleaded not guilty to the cocaine trafficking case, which was first brought years ago against them and several alleged co-conspirators. A conviction could have resulted in life imprisonment.Their lawyers have also asked the court to dismiss the case, arguing that Maduro and Flores are protected by immunity as the leader and first lady of a foreign country.The Trump administration has described the operation that captured Maduro as a “surgical law enforcement operation”. Maduro has described himself as a prisoner of war and called his capture a kidnapping.Flores is accused of joining her husband in the alleged cocaine importation conspiracy. Her lawyers have argued that she does not pose a flight risk because she is “intent on supporting her husband with her constant presence.”
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