Federal prosecutors in New York on Thursday unsealed additional charges against ousted Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, accusing him of conspiring with his wife to torture people held in Venezuelan prisons.
The superseding indictment, made public in Manhattan federal court, alleges that Maduro’s government targeted Americans for torture because he “assigned blame to the United States for the instability in Venezuela.”
Prosecutors said Maduro “presided over this system of repression and torture,” while accusing his wife, Cilia Flores, of helping him establish it.
“When Maduro became President of Venezuela in or about 2013, he authorized the use of torture against specific individuals and oversaw a system designed to use torture, military detention, and violence as a means of repression against the political opposition,” the indictment alleges.
The superseding indictment charges Maduro with one count of conspiracy to commit torture. Flores faces one count of conspiracy to commit torture and one count of narcoterrorism.
“As alleged in the indictment, the Maduro regime subjected over a dozen American citizens to torture while held in custody of the Venezuelan government — including drugs, electrocution, sexual assault, and more,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement. “They will now answer for their crimes.”
According to the indictment, Maduro also allegedly joined a plot to torture an American whose only perceived value was that he might be “useful in a prisoner exchange with the United States.”
The American, identified as Victim-8, was visiting relatives in Venezuela when officers allegedly attacked him from behind, seriously injuring his back and leaving him hospitalized for an extended period. During his transfer from the hospital to prison, Venezuelan officers allegedly “electrocuted Victim-8’s testicles and put a pressure device on his ankles, causing him to faint several times,” the superseding indictment says.
Prosecutors allege the abuse continued after Victim-8 was imprisoned. At one point, one of his torturers reportedly told him that his U.S. citizenship was the only reason he remained alive because “Victim-8 could be useful in a prisoner exchange with the United States,” according to the indictment.
The indictment also describes the alleged abuse of Victim-9 after Maduro claimed victory in 2024, following an election the United States called a sham. Venezuelan authorities allegedly beat the American for two days, striking his face, head and stomach roughly every half-hour. “The beatings caused permanent injury to Victim-9’s eye,” prosecutors wrote.
Victim-9 spent about a year in custody and was released on Jan. 15, 2026, two weeks after Maduro was ousted, the indictment says. He and other Americans were nevertheless warned “they were not allowed to say the Venezuelan government had hurt them or had otherwise subjected them to abuse,” according to prosecutors.
READ MORE: California Woman Accused of Spying for China Seeks Release With $820,000 Security Proposal
In January 2002, Venezuelan authorities detained an American identified as Victim-7 on allegations that he had taken part in a conspiracy to assassinate Maduro. Officials brought him to a concrete house, where they allegedly tortured him for two or three days. The indictment says officers punched him in the face and abdomen, covered his face and poured a noxious liquid over it, causing him to vomit, and then forced him to consume the vomit.
Victim-7 was later transferred to Boleita Norte prison, where prosecutors allege the torture continued. The alleged abuse included electric shocks to his arms, legs and genitals, asphyxiation, beatings, deprivation of food and water, and forced injections of a substance that caused seizures.
Maduro was not in court Thursday. Flores appeared for a related proceeding, and the federal judge overseeing the case denied her request for pretrial release on bail.
“Jail is not a nice place to be, but these are serious allegations,” Judge Alvin Hellerstein said. “I don’t think the conditions are there to release her.”
Flores’ attorney, Mark Donnelly, argued that she needs a medical procedure and would be unable to recover in a jail cell. He proposed house arrest accompanied by a private security detail.
Federal prosecutors opposed the request, accusing Flores of “horrific acts.” They said “witnesses who were in the room” would testify about the torture she allegedly helped carry out with her husband.
Maduro and Flores are expected to be arraigned on the new charges at a later date.
Both have previously pleaded not guilty to narcoterrorism and drug-trafficking charges. They maintained their innocence during their first court appearance in January, after U.S. forces captured them in a military operation in Caracas, Venezuela’s capital.
In a court filing last month, Maduro’s lawyer argued that the former president is immune from prosecution because he led a sovereign nation.
Copyright © 2026 ABC News Internet Ventures.