The new charge is in addition to drug trafficking and weapons counts the couple already faced, which they have denied. Maduro, 63, and Flores, 69, have been in US custody since January after US forces seized them in a pre-dawn raid on their compound in Caracas. They are being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
According to the indictment, Maduro “authorised 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.” Thousands of Venezuelans were “harassed, threatened, arrested, prosecuted, assaulted, tortured, or killed” by people acting at the behest of his government, the document states.
Prosecutors detail several cases of alleged abuse. One detainee arrested after a 2018 drone attack that the Venezuelan government said was an attempt to assassinate Maduro was subjected to electric shocks and asphyxiation. Three US citizens are also cited. In one instance, in January 2025, intelligence officers arrested an American citizen who was not their intended target and beat him repeatedly over two days, causing permanent injury to his eye. He was released about a year later and warned not to disclose the abuse.
The indictment alleges that Maduro personally directed or was regularly briefed on the mistreatment. In one case, when told a detained military officer remained defiant, he ordered officials to “squeeze them harder.” He is also said to have watched a video of a forced confession and threatened to kill a prisoner's child as a form of psychological torture. Flores, the indictment says, was present at some meetings where detainees and their treatment were discussed.
A judge on Thursday denied Flores's request to be moved to house arrest. The couple's trial is scheduled to begin on June 1, 2027.