US prosecutors add torture charge against former Venezuelan leader Maduro

Summary

• US federal prosecutors have added a charge of conspiring to commit torture against former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, accusing them of overseeing a system of repression targeting political opponents and detainees, including US citizens.
• According to the indictment, Maduro and Flores allegedly helped maintain a system in which Venezuelan security and military officials used physical and psychological torture to suppress dissent and protect the government’s hold on power.
• Flores, a former Venezuelan lawmaker and first lady, is accused of helping develop the system of repression and ordering specific abuses, according to the indictment.

AI Generated Summary

US federal prosecutors have added a charge of conspiring to commit torture against former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, accusing them of overseeing a system of repression targeting political opponents and detainees, including US citizens.

The new charge was included in a revised indictment unsealed on October 8 in federal court in Manhattan. It adds to existing charges accusing the couple of conspiring to traffic cocaine into the United States, engaging in narco-terrorism and committing weapons offences.