Venezuela’s Maduro pleads not guilty to US conspiracy to torture charges

Key points

• Nicolas Maduro and Cilia Flores pleaded not guilty in New York to new conspiracy to commit torture charges.
• The US says the couple oversaw torture, arbitrary detention and violence for over two decades.
• Delcy Rodriguez, Maduro's vice president, has led Venezuela since his January abduction.

Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores pleaded not guilty on Thursday in a New York City courtroom to new charges of conspiracy to commit torture, which were unsealed last week. The couple appeared after being abducted from Caracas in a United States military operation in January.

Maduro and Flores had already pleaded not guilty to several other charges, including narco-terrorism, cocaine importation conspiracy and possession of machineguns and destructive devices.

What US prosecutors allege

US Attorney Jamie McDonald said last week that the couple 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.

The new indictment said Maduro and Flores oversaw a system of torture, arbitrary detention and violence to target individuals viewed as disloyal or a threat to their illegal narcotics activity, and as a means of repression against the political opposition. It cited instances where the couple identified individuals to be targeted, asked for updates on the torture, or suggested techniques. In one 2014 case, Maduro allegedly urged enforcers to work harder to extract information from detained military personnel, saying, "Squeeze them harder." The indictment said abuses under Maduro's rule included beatings, electrocutions and threatening family members of detainees, though US prosecutors did not accuse the couple of directly taking part in the torture.

I am innocent. I am not guilty. I am a decent man. I am still president of my country.

— Nicolas Maduro

Venezuela leadership after abduction

Maduro became president of Venezuela in 2013, and his re-elections, most recently in 2024, were repeatedly contested by opposition figures and outside monitors. Interim President Delcy Rodriguez, Maduro's vice president, has led the country since his abduction in January.

She had initially decried the US action as an illegal, illegitimate kidnapping. However, she has since remained close to the Trump administration, including overseeing efforts to open the country's state-owned oil industry to foreign companies.