U.S. Prosecutors Bring Torture Charge Against Nicolás Maduro

U.S. prosecutors have filed new charges of conspiracy to commit torture against former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. The couple, currently in U.S. custody in Brooklyn following their January seizure in Caracas, are accused of overseeing a system of repression involving electric shocks, asphyxiation, and psychological torture to maintain power. These charges supplement existing drug-trafficking and weapons cases. While the Maduro administration has ended and an interim leader is in power, the United Nations reports that concerns regarding systemic human rights abuses and torture in Venezuela persist.

U.S. prosecutors have filed new charges of conspiracy to commit torture against former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. The couple, currently in U.S. custody in Brooklyn following their January seizure in Caracas, are accused of overseeing a system of repression involving electric shocks, asphyxiation, and psychological torture to maintain power. These charges supplement existing drug-trafficking and weapons cases. While the Maduro administration has ended and an interim leader is in power, the United Nations reports that concerns regarding systemic human rights abuses and torture in Venezuela persist.