Americas / Venezuela · Public record

Maduro torture charge: what the new US indictment adds

Federal prosecutors in New York on Thursday unsealed a new indictment charging Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, with conspiring to commit torture. It adds a human-rights count to the drug and weapons case the couple have faced since U.S. forces seized them in Caracas in January. The indictment accuses them of overseeing a system of repression in Venezuela from about 1999 to 2025 and describes the torture of three U.S. citizens. These are allegations. Both have pleaded not guilty to the earlier charges, and Maduro's lawyer, Barry Pollack, said his client denies the new ones and "looks forward to his day in court."

The grand jury's indictment was filed under seal on 6 October and made public on 8 October. It is the fifth superseding indictment in a Manhattan federal case first filed in 2011 (S5 11 Cr. 205), before Judge Alvin Hellerstein. The same day, Hellerstein refused Flores's request to leave jail for home confinement, AP reported.

What the new count adds

• A torture charge. Count Two charges conspiracy to commit torture under the federal torture statute, 18 U.S.C. 2340A. The indictment says the couple and others agreed to commit acts "under the color of law" meant to inflict severe physical and mental pain and suffering on people in their custody. It says the offense was committed outside the United States and that at least one conspirator is present in the country. The Justice Department says the count has a maximum sentence of 20 years.
• The purpose alleged. The indictment says the conspiracy aimed to "repress and punish political opposition," silence dissent, protect the conspirators' power and neutralize opponents, including through kidnappings.
• Flores on the narco-terrorism count. Flores was not charged with narco-terrorism in the earlier indictment, on which she was arraigned in January. The new indictment adds her to that count, as the BBC also reported; the Justice Department says the count has a 20-year mandatory minimum. The cocaine and machine-gun counts against both are restated.
• Maduro's alleged role. The indictment says Maduro ordered specific arrests and torture, received updates on prisoners and suggested methods. About one detainee who would not break, it says, he told officials to "squeeze them harder." It says that in 2014 he proposed kidnapping five to seven members of the military and "drawing the information out of them" through torture, and that Flores agreed.
• Flores's alleged role. The indictment says she helped develop the system of repression and ordered people tortured to protect her relatives' illegal activities.
• How rare this is. Prosecuting foreign officials in the United States for torture is rare and has been attempted only a handful of times, AP reported. Kenneth Roth, the former head of Human Rights Watch, told AP: "The problem here isn't a lack of jurisdiction but rather selectivity of prosecution."

The three Americans

The indictment describes three U.S. citizens, by number rather than name. It says all three were held by the DGCIM, which it calls the Venezuelan Directorate of Military Intelligence (in Spanish, the General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence).

• Detained in 2022. A man detained entering Venezuela in about January 2022 and, the indictment says, falsely accused of conspiring to kill Maduro. The indictment says he was given electric shocks, beaten, deprived of food and water and injected with a substance that caused seizures. He was released in about October 2022 after about eight and a half months at Boleíta Norte prison. AP reported that he matches the description of Osman Khan.
• Detained in 2023. A man detained in about August 2023 while travelling to see family. The indictment says DGCIM officers attacked him from behind and injured his back so badly that he needed a long hospital stay, and that he was told he was alive only because he could be useful in a prisoner exchange with the United States.
• Detained in 2025. A man arrested on about 29 January 2025 after officers came to his home looking for someone else. The indictment says he was hooded and beaten roughly every half hour for two days, leaving a permanent eye injury. He was released on about 15 January 2026.

The first man also "witnessed the abuse of other American prisoners," the indictment says. FBI Director Kash Patel said on social media that "over a dozen American citizens" were tortured. The indictment itself details three.

Most of the document concerns Venezuelan victims: opposition figures, soldiers and relatives of officials. It names none of them. AP reported that some descriptions match well-known cases, including protest leader Leopoldo López and opposition politician Fernando Albán, who died after a fall from an intelligence agency building in 2018.

Three officials it describes but does not name

The indictment says three unnamed co-conspirators were central to the system:

• CC-1, a "high-level Venezuelan official" who, it says, ordered the murders of opponents, oversaw torture by officers under his command and personally threatened to kill a prisoner's child.
• CC-2, a senior officer who reported directly to Maduro. The indictment says he developed torture methods, presented them to Maduro for approval and "led an agency responsible for torturing scores of victims."
• CC-3, who reported to CC-2. The indictment says he ordered and took part in the torture of civilians and soldiers, including U.S. citizens, and that he watched one American being electrocuted and laughed at him.

One detail dates from after Maduro's removal. The indictment says that on about 15 January 2026, when the third American was driven to the airport to be released, he and other Americans met CC-3, who threatened them and told them they were not allowed to say the Venezuelan government had hurt them. That was 12 days after Maduro was seized, and after Delcy Rodríguez took over as interim president on 5 January. The indictment does not say what post CC-3 held then or holds now.

Neither prosecutors nor the court have identified the three. Some Venezuelan outlets have published guesses. Those are not identifications, and we do not repeat them.

How it bears on the immunity fight

• The hearing. On 17 November, Hellerstein will hear argument on the defense's first round of pretrial motions, which include Maduro's and Flores's motions to dismiss on grounds of sovereign immunity. Defense replies are due on 16 October under a schedule the judge adopted in July. Trial is set for 1 June 2027.
• The government's argument so far. In a 2 October filing, prosecutors said the United States has not recognized Maduro as Venezuela's president, and that Venezuela "has not asserted that Maduro Moros or Flores de Maduro are immune" in this case or any other U.S. case. They said Venezuela did ask Washington to back immunity for Rodríguez in a Florida lawsuit, and that on 20 July the United States told that court she is head of state and immune. That lawsuit included torture allegations, the filing says.
• The test prosecutors cite. The filing says courts weighing a former official's immunity have looked at the U.S. government's view, the foreign government's view and whether the acts broke the foreign country's own law.
• Our reading. That filing answered the earlier indictment, before the torture count was public. The new count rests on acts done "under the color of law," that is, by people using the real or claimed authority of the state. Neither side has yet told the court how that element fits the argument over whether the couple's alleged conduct counts as official acts.

What Caracas has said

• Nothing so far. Venezuela's government had not commented on the new charges, AP and Venezuelanalysis reported. AP said the silence reflects Rodríguez's effort to keep the security forces on side without alienating President Donald Trump. As Maduro's vice president, AP noted, she oversaw parts of the security apparatus, including a domestic spy agency accused of arbitrary detentions.
• Who else is charged. The torture count charges only Maduro and Flores. The earlier drug indictment also names other officials, among them Diosdado Cabello, whom Venezuelanalysis describes as the current interior minister. He is not a defendant on the torture count.
• The agency. In March, Rodríguez named a new director of the DGCIM, the Venezuelan outlet El Diario reported.
• Detention now. The UN human rights chief, Volker Türk, has warned that his office received reports that detainees were still being tortured after Maduro's seizure, the BBC reported. More than 300 political prisoners remain behind bars, according to the rights group Foro Penal, cited by the BBC.
• A witness. AP reported that Hugo Carvajal, a former Venezuelan spy chief and a co-defendant who pleaded guilty to drug charges, has been meeting prosecutors building the case against Maduro.

Flores's bail request

• Denied. Flores asked to await trial in home confinement with GPS monitoring, citing a heart condition, Fox News reported. Hellerstein denied the request, siding with prosecutors who said she is an "extreme" flight risk, AP reported. She remains in jail in Brooklyn.
• Arraignment delayed. Her lawyer asked for her arraignment on the new count to be delayed because the defense had received the indictment only that morning, and the judge allowed it, CBS News reported. Her attorney said he had not yet had time to review the new allegations, AP reported. No arraignment of either defendant on the new count appeared on the public docket as of its last update on 8 October.

What we don't know (as of 07:47 ET on 10 October)

• Who CC-1, CC-2 and CC-3 are, and whether any of them holds a post in Rodríguez's government.
• When the couple will be arraigned on the new count and enter pleas. No new date has been reported for either.
• Whether the November hearing will cover the torture count. The immunity motions were filed against the earlier indictment. The defense has not said whether it will file new motions.
• How many Americans. The FBI director says more than a dozen; the indictment details three.
• What Caracas will do. Venezuela has not said whether it will respond to the charges or change its stance on immunity.

The torture count is an allegation, and the Justice Department says the defendants are presumed innocent. It adds three U.S. victims, three unnamed officials and a new legal question to a case already headed for a November immunity hearing and a June 2027 trial. The next dates to watch are 16 October, when the defense's replies on its first-round motions are due, and 17 November, when the judge hears them.

Sources

• U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, "Nicolás Maduro Moros and Cilia Adela Flores de Maduro Charged with Torture", 8 October 2026: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/nicolas-maduro-moros-and-cilia-adela-flores-de-maduro-charged-torture
• Superseding indictment, United States v. Maduro Moros, S5 11 Cr. 205 (AKH), S.D.N.Y., unsealed 8 October 2026 (via Courthouse News): https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/maduro-torture-superseding-indictment.pdf
• Court docket, United States v. Carvajal-Barrios et al., 1:11-cr-00205 (S.D.N.Y.), via CourtListener, as of 8 October 2026: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/17015978/united-states-v-carvajal-barrios/
• Government memorandum opposing the defendants' motions to dismiss, filed 2 October 2026 (ECF 338): https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.534994/gov.uscourts.nysd.534994.338.0.pdf
• AP (via NBC News), "U.S. indictment charges Maduro with overseeing machine of repression, torture of Americans", 8 October 2026: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/us-indictment-charges-maduro-overseeing-machine-repression-americans-rcna602456
• CBS News, "Nicolas Maduro, wife face torture charge in new U.S. indictment", 8 October 2026 (Mark Osborne, Alice Gainer, Nicole Sganga): https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nicolas-maduro-cilia-flores-new-torture-charge/
• BBC News, "Venezuela's ex-leader Nicolás Maduro charged with conspiracy to commit torture", 8 October 2026 (Vanessa Buschschlüter): https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5pvgn7xvxpzo
• Fox News, "Nicolas Maduro and wife Cilia Flores face new charge of conspiracy to torture Americans", 8 October 2026 (Robert McGreevy): https://www.foxnews.com/politics/nicolas-maduro-wife-cilia-flores-face-new-charge-conspiracy-torture-americans
• Venezuelanalysis, "Flores Denied Bail as Justice Department Levies New Maduro Charges", 8 October 2026: https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/venezuela-flores-denied-bail-as-justice-department-levies-new-maduro-charges/
• EL PAÍS English, "Venezuela confirms it did not seek Nicolás Maduro's release or request immunity to prevent US trial", 6 October 2026: https://english.elpais.com/international/2026-10-06/venezuela-confirms-it-did-not-seek-nicolas-maduros-release-or-request-immunity-to-prevent-us-trial.html
• El Diario (Venezuela), "Designaron a Germán Gómez Lárez como nuevo jefe de la DGCIM", 18 March 2026: https://eldiario.com/2026/03/18/designaron-german-gomez-larez-jefe-dgcim/