Cilia Flores seeks release over heart condition

Cilia Flores de Maduro, the wife of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, has asked a federal judge in New York to release her from jail before trial, saying a worsening heart condition requires treatment and recovery that a detention center cannot provide.

Flores, 69, and Maduro, 63, have been held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since U.S. forces captured them at their Caracas home in a nighttime raid in January and brought them to New York to face federal charges. Both have pleaded not guilty and are scheduled to go to trial in June.

In a filing late Wednesday, Flores’ attorney, Mark Donnelly, asked that she be allowed to await trial under home confinement. He said doctors have recommended a cardiac catheterization, a procedure that could lead to more invasive heart operations, and argued that Flores needs a setting suitable for recovery.

“Prior to the United States’ military invasion of Venezuela, Ms. Flores de Maduro was physically healthy and took no ongoing medication, other than a monthly injection to help control her mitral valve prolapse,” Donnelly wrote. “Now she is prescribed four medications, maintains nitroglycerin by her side in the event of a potential heart attack, and grapples with the continued medical advice suggesting coronary exploration and surgery.”

Donnelly said Flores has not received her monthly injection for mitral valve prolapse since her incarceration. He said she has lost more than 25 pounds and two molars, sleeps no more than three to four hours a day and continues to suffer light-headedness, dizziness and shortness of breath.

The filing said Flores experienced “a significant, 30-minute episode of intense pressure in her chest along with feeling a lack of oxygen” on July 29. Her lawyers, after consulting outside medical experts, believe she may have suffered a minor heart attack, but Donnelly said the extent of her condition remains unclear because lab tests were not taken or documented in her medical records at the time.

The filing acknowledges that Flores does not “dispute that she has received excellent care” from medical professionals. But Donnelly wrote that “despite the ongoing efforts of the MDC staff, a detention center lacks the conditions needed for such a recovery. Her reticence to undergo cardiac exploration and surgery only to return to the conditions which have contributed to the deterioration of her health is reasonable.”

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan charged Maduro and Flores with conspiracy to import cocaine and possession of machine guns and destructive devices. Maduro is also charged with narcoterrorism conspiracy. The indictment alleges Maduro and co-conspirators “for decades, partnered with some of the most violent and prolific drug traffickers and narco-terrorists in the world, and relied on corrupt officials throughout the region, to distribute tons of cocaine to the United States.”

They face potential life sentences if convicted. Last week, Maduro and Flores asked a federal judge to dismiss the indictment, arguing they are immune from prosecution as the leader and first lady of a foreign country.

Flores was a prominent figure in Maduro’s government, serving as first lady after his 2013 inauguration. Before that, she was a leading member of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela and led the National Assembly for more than four years, Al Jazeera reported.

Her lawyers proposed home detention at a residence in Manhattan, with GPS monitoring, 24-hour armed surveillance, video monitoring, recorded phone calls, surrender of travel documents, restricted visits and a third-party custodian approved by pretrial services and the court. Donnelly said the Trump administration is aware of the request and opposes her release.

Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein has not yet ruled on the application. A spokesperson for the Southern District of New York declined to comment.