Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro and his wife charged over torture allegations

The new US charge adds to the existing drug trafficking case against Venezuela’s former president and first lady.

FILE PHOTO: Venezuela's captured President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores attend their arraignment with defense lawyers Barry Pollack and Mark Donnelly to face U.S. federal charges including narco-terrorism, conspiracy, drug trafficking, money laundering and others, at the Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., January 5, 2026 in this courtroom sketch. REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg/File Photo — Venezuela's abducted former President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores attend their arraignment with defense lawyers Barry Pollack and Mark Donnelly to face US federal charges including narco-terrorism, conspiracy, drug trafficking and money laundering, in Manhattan, New York City, January 5, 2026 [File: Jane Rosenberg/Reuters]

Former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were charged in the US state of New York with conspiring to commit torture in connection with allegations that they tortured political opponents to maintain their power.

The charge announced on Thursday in a Manhattan federal court adds one count of conspiracy to commit torture to the drug trafficking charges the couple already faced.

Maduro and Flores pleaded not guilty to the drug charges and have been held at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center since their capture. Their trial is scheduled for June 1.

The charges pile on an ongoing criminal case against Maduro and Flores. A superseding indictment accuses Maduro of working with cartel groups to move cocaine through Venezuela toward the United States.

This is a developing story…