By admin 
Prosecutors in New York brought new charges against former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores on Thursday over the alleged torture of Americans and others who were held in Venezuelan government custody in recent years.
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They each face an additional charge of conspiracy to commit torture, according to the indictment. CNN first reported on Wednesday that the charges were expected.
Prosecutors allege when Maduro became president in 2013 he “authorized the use of torture against specific individuals and oversaw a system designed to use torture, arbitrary detention, and violence as a means of repression against the political opposition,” the indictment said.
The new charges relate to what the US government has said was the wrongful detention of more than a dozen US citizens in Venezuelan prisons when Maduro led a repressive regime in Venezuela.
Investigators have also discussed charging several additional people for their alleged role in the torture of Americans, according to a source familiar with the matter, people briefed on the investigation told CNN Wednesday.
CNN has reached out to lawyers for Maduro and Flores.
Maduro and his wife were captured in a US military raid in January from the presidential palace in Caracas. They have pleaded not guilty to narcoterrorism conspiracy and other charges and are held without bail in New York.
Flores appeared at a hearing Thursday where her lawyer will ask that she be moved to house arrest ahead of trial.
Maduro’s lawyer is challenging the legality of the arrest and argues the former president should have immunity since the alleged conduct occurred while he was in office.
The Venezuelan government is not joining in claiming immunity on his behalf, according to the prosecution.
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Allegations of torture
More than a dozen Americans were detained by the Maduro government, which was accused by US government and advocates of using them as political pawns.
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According to the indictment, one Venezuelan military officer was shocked using a live electrical wire approximately 20 times and hit on his legs, back and head with fists, belts and an object that appeared to be a pipe. The officer was hung from only his hands and feet, and waterboarded — putting his head under water to simulate drowning — about 30 times, according to prosecutors.
Several Americans detained by the Maduro government have spoken out about the torture say they were subjected to while they were imprisoned. Matthew Heath and Osman Khan, who were freed in a prisoner swap in October 2022, alleged in a lawsuit that they were subjected to waterboarding, electrocution, threats of sexual assault, use of mind-altering drugs, and periods of solitary confinement. Heath, a US Marine veteran, attempted suicide while he was detained.
The “CITGO 6,” a group of six American oil executives who were lured to Venezuela in 2017 and detained for nearly five years, also say they were subjected to brutal conditions while in Venezuelan detention. In lawsuits filed against their employer — Citgo — Tomeu Vadell, Alirio Jose Zambrano and Jose Luis Zambrano said they were subjected to torture while imprisoned.
Maduro and his wife shifted blame on the instability in Venezuela onto the United States resulting in the detention of the six oil executives — including five Americans. The Citgo-6 were detained in Venezuela and charged with corruption in 2017. After that, authorities allege the abuse of American citizens by Venezuelans authorities increased.
All of them had been held in the notorious General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence (DGCIM) — which was “responsible for arbitrary detentions, ill-treatment and torture of political opponents and their relatives,” according to a United Nations report.
That report found that DGCIM “routinely resorted” to torture practices “including electric shocks, suffocation with plastic bags, waterboarding, beatings, sexual violence, water and food deprivation, stress positions and exposure to extreme temperatures” in order to “extract information and confessions, intimidate, and punish the detainees.”
María Oropeza, state coordinator of the Vente Venezuela party, responded to the anticipated new charges over the alleged torture of Americans.
“This is good news for those of us who want justice, not so much for those who still believe that they will return,” she wrote on X. “I only hope that someday they will face charges for torturing Venezuelans.”
This story was updated with additional information. CNN’s Michael Rios contributed to this report.
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