NY Officials to Bring Torture Charges Against Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro holds a ceremonial sword said to have belonged to independence hero Simon Bolivar during a government-organized civic-military march in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Prosecutors in New York intend to bring charges related to the alleged torture of Americans who were held in Venezuela against Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores, CNN reported Wednesday.

Sources told CNN an announcement about the charges could come as soon as Thursday and that the “new charges relate to what the US government has said was the wrongful detention of more than a dozen US citizens in Venezuelan prisons during the time Maduro led a repressive regime in Venezuela.”

Those leading the investigation have “also discussed charging several additional people for their alleged role in the torture of Americans,” the sources also said.

Over one dozen Americans were detained by the Maduro government, CNN added. “Several of the Americans have spoken out about the torture say they were subjected to while they were imprisoned. Matthew Heath and Osman Khan, who were freed in a prisoner swap in October 2022, alleged in a lawsuit that they were subjected to waterboarding, electrocution, threats of sexual assault, use of mind-altering drugs, and periods of solitary confinement. Heath, a US Marine veteran, attempted suicide while he was detained,” the reporting noted.

In January Maduro told a judge he is “still president of my country” following his arrest on federal drug trafficking charges.

“I am innocent, I am not guilty,” Maduro also said, according to multiple reports. He was charged with narco-terrorism conspiracy, weapons charges, and cocaine-importation conspiracy and entered a not guilty plea.

Flores also pled not guilty.

Maduro’s arrest was celebrated by the editorial board of The Washington Post in January.

“Millions of people around the world, most of all in Venezuela, are celebrating the downfall of the dictator Nicolás Maduro. President Donald Trump’s decision to capture him on Saturday is one of the boldest moves a president has made in years, and the operation was an unquestionable tactical success,” the editors wrote in part.

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