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.
The superseding indictment was unsealed shortly before Flores appeared at court in her ongoing push for pre-trial release – which was denied by Judge Alvin Hellerstein. Maduro and Flores have jailed in New York City since early January.
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”.
Maduro and Flores have previously pleaded not guilty in the criminal case against them. CNN on Wednesday first reported that a new indictment was expected.
The new charging document described how Maduro and his wife allegedly wielded untold horrors to suppress opposition and maintain their control.
Maduro, Flores and other Venezuelan leaders “presided over a system of repression that relied on violence against political opposition, arbitrary detention, and the torture of detainees, including United States citizens”, the just released charging document said.
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”.
Flores was integral to this effort, authorities claimed, saying she “helped develop this system of repression and ordered that individuals be tortured to protect her family members’ illegal activities”.
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.”
Maduro and Flores also put pressure on Venezuela’s judiciary to make legal decisions that supported their efforts to thwart opposition, charging papers alleged. When one official resisted, Venezuelan intelligence agents arrested and tortured their family members, charging papers stated.
“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.
This official “ultimately … relented and blocked the opposition figures from running for political office”.
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.
One torture victim, who was repeatedly interrogated, endured numerous threats “including that his daughter would be kidnapped and raped if he did not confess and name his supposed confederates”, court papers state. “On one occasion, interrogators produced women’s underwear, claiming it belonged to his daughter.”
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.
Hellerstein pushed back on this claim, noting that Flores was refusing to have catheterization while detained in general population.
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“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.”
Flores’s attorney then pointed to her high blood pressure. “It’s controllable by pills,” Hellerstein said.
Her team also said in court that Flores dropped more than 25lbs and lost two teeth since her detention.
“For whatever it’s worth, her appearance today is no worse than, and perhaps a little better, than when I first met with her [at] her arraignment,” Hellerstein said. Flores’s lawyer said that during her arraignment she was “still bandaged up” from her rough arrest.
Flores wore dark jail scrubs during her court appearance. She listened to the proceedings with headphones through a Spanish-language interpreter.
The US attorney’s office for the southern district of New York, which is prosecuting this case, opposed Flores’s now-failed bail request. Prosecutors have argued that Flores was a flight risk. Prosecutors also maintained that she had received appropriate medical care.
Donald Trump has defended the controversial raid on Maduro, insisting it was a “surgical law enforcement operation”. At Maduro’s first US court appearance, he said: “I’m a kidnapped president – a prisoner of war!”
After Maduro’s forced ouster, Trump worked swiftly to gain access to Venezuela’s expansive oil reserves. In August, Trump announced a new oil agreement with Venezuela – claiming that the US would have “majority” control over 65bn barrels of proven reserves.
Venezuela boasts an approximate 303bn barrels of proven oil reserves – the largest in the world. The White House has tried establishing a consistent flow of Venezuelan crude oil to US refineries while boosting US investment into the country’s flagging petroleum industry.
Trump has faced mounting pressure over skyrocketing gas prices in advance of November’s midterm elections. Greater access to cheaper oil and broadened output could help lower costs.
A Guardian investigation found, however, that Trump’s proclaimed “biggest oil deal in world history” is likely to fail due to legal and logistical problems.
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