Nicolás Maduro and his wife indicted for alleged torture of US citizens

Ousted Venezuelan president and Cilia Flores have been in jail in New York since early January

The deposed Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, have been indicted for alleged conspiracy to commit torture, according to Manhattan federal court papers unsealed on Thursday.

They were captured by US special forces during a shocking predawn assault on Caracas and transported to New York to face “narcoterrorism”-related charges in a move that sparked widespread international outrage. Charging documents at the time alleged that Maduro spearheaded a “corrupt, illegitimate government that, for decades, has leveraged government power to protect and promote illegal activity, including drug trafficking”.

The new charging document described how Maduro and his wife allegedly wielded untold horrors to suppress opposition and maintain their control.

Maduro and Flores, the superseding indictment alleged, “sat atop that violent power structure”. They allegedly “developed and facilitated the systems which they and their co-conspirators used corruptly to amass immense wealth and power, rewarding allies with ill-gotten funds and terrorizing perceived opponents through persecution and violence”.

The victims of their torture included US citizens “who were believed to pose a threat” to Maduro’s power.

“One particular United States citizen was detained in Venezuela and subjected to, among other things, deprivation of food and water, simulated drowning, repeated beatings, electric shock to his testicles, and forced injections.”

“For example, one family member … was forced to drink latrine water; [was] assaulted with tear gas in Victim-1’s cell; [was] threatened that Victim-1 would be killed at gunpoint; and placed in a cold room known as the ‘Freezer’ in which a bright light was left on at all times of day and night and music was blared on repeat,” the superseding indictment said.

During another alleged torture incident, authorities allegedly abused the friend of a suspected opponent by “asphyxiating him with a bag, applying electric shocks to his testicles and knees, and kicking and beating him with a blunt object”, court papers said.

Shortly after of this indictment surfaced, Flores’s attorneys argued for her release in an already scheduled proceeding, pitching house arrest guarded by 24-hour private security. In doing so, they invoked chronic health issues, including cardiac infirmities.

“I’ve undergone it, so I know what it is,” Hellerstein said, noting that it was generally an outpatient procedure. “There’s no pain. There’s no general anesthesia.”

Her team also said in court that Flores dropped more than 25lbs and lost two teeth since her detention.