Maduro and wife plead not guilty to US torture conspiracy charge

Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, pleaded not guilty Thursday to a new U.S. charge of conspiracy to commit torture, adding to a criminal case that has kept them jailed in New York since a U.S. military operation in Venezuela in January.

Maduro rejected the indictment in court. “I reject this document entirely,” he said in Spanish through a translator, calling the allegations “false accusations and false testimony behind him.” Judge Alvin Hellerstein interrupted him and entered a not-guilty plea on his behalf, the BBC reported. Flores told the court, also through a translator: “I am completely innocent. I am not guilty.”

The new charges, unsealed last week, accuse the couple of overseeing a system of torture, arbitrary detention and violence. Prosecutors allege it targeted people viewed as disloyal or as threats to illegal narcotics activity, as well as political opponents. The indictment says “thousands of Venezuelans” were killed, harassed or tortured under what it calls a “violent system of repression,” according to the BBC.

U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald said last week that Maduro and Flores had, for more than two decades, “engaged in a conspiracy to commit torture, including the torture of United States citizens, in addition to the narcotics trafficking and weapons offences already charged,” Al Jazeera reported.

The indictment lists alleged methods including electric shock, asphyxiation, rape, forced nudity, prolonged isolation, starvation, punishment cells and psychological torture, according to the BBC. It also accuses Maduro of authorizing torture against specific people.

Al Jazeera reported that prosecutors cited instances in which Maduro and Flores allegedly identified people to be targeted, requested updates on torture or suggested techniques. In 2014, Maduro allegedly urged enforcers questioning detained military personnel to “Squeeze them harder.” The indictment also accuses him of suggesting sleep deprivation and pouring water on detainees. Prosecutors did not accuse either Maduro or Flores of personally carrying out torture, Al Jazeera reported.

The couple had already pleaded not guilty to charges including narco-terrorism, cocaine importation conspiracy and weapons offenses. Prosecutors have accused Maduro, Flores, their son and others of participating in a cocaine-trafficking conspiracy and partnering with cartels designated as terrorist groups, according to the BBC. Maduro has called the earlier charges a tool of U.S. “imperial” plans to gain access to Venezuela’s oil reserves.

U.S. forces seized Maduro and Flores in Caracas in January and took them to New York. At an earlier court appearance, Maduro said he had been “kidnapped” and declared: “I am innocent. I am not guilty. I am a decent man. I am still president of my country,” Al Jazeera reported.

Their lawyers argue that Maduro is immune from prosecution as the leader of a sovereign country and that taking him by force was illegal. Both have sought to have the case dismissed. Flores also unsuccessfully sought release on bond, citing heart problems and other health issues while detained in Brooklyn, the BBC reported. Their trial is scheduled for June 2027.

Delcy Rodríguez, who had been Maduro’s vice president, has led Venezuela since January. She initially called the U.S. operation an “illegal, illegitimate kidnapping,” Al Jazeera reported.