Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, are expected to face additional charges accusing them of roles in the unjust detention and alleged torture of American citizens held as political prisoners during Maduro’s rule in Venezuela, according to reports from CNN, Fox News and other outlets.
Fox News reports the new charges are expected to be announced Thursday, October 8.
The couple has been held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since January, when U.S. forces arrested them during a law enforcement operation in Caracas. They are already expected to stand trial in June 2027 on multiple drug trafficking charges.
Maduro’s attorney, Barry Pollack, told CBS News he “has not been provided any notice” of additional charges against his client. Pollack is separately challenging the legality of Maduro’s arrest, arguing the former dictator should have immunity. Prosecutors have noted that the Venezuelan socialist government itself is not joining that immunity claim.
For years, and increasingly in the final two years of his rule, the Maduro government detained roughly a dozen American citizens and numerous other foreigners, holding them as political prisoners while leveling unsubstantiated accusations against them. Maduro repeatedly claimed the Americans and other foreign detainees were part of plots to assassinate him and senior regime officials, but never produced evidence to support those claims.
Several of the Americans held in Venezuela were freed in the first days of President Donald Trump’s second term following negotiations by his administration.
Prior lawsuit alleges torture
Two Americans previously detained in Venezuela, former U.S. Marine corporal Matthew Heath and Osman Khan, filed a lawsuit against Maduro in federal court in Miami in January 2025. The suit accuses him of running a vast “criminal enterprise” and using the detained Americans as “bargaining chips” in negotiations with the United States.
Heath and Khan allege in the lawsuit that Maduro regime officials subjected them to torture and inhumane treatment, including “waterboarding, electrocution, threats of rape with a nightstick,” and the administration of “mind-altering medications.” The claimants also say they were held at El Tigrito, a widely documented facility the Maduro government used to punish dissidents.
What’s next
Flores is due in federal court on Thursday for a bond hearing. Under the Maduro government, she held the title of “First Combatant,” a socialist designation that reportedly placed her above the traditional status of first lady.
Since the January arrests, Maduro’s former vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, has served as acting president of Venezuela. Rodríguez met with President Trump last month on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly and made no mention of Maduro in her U.N. speech, instead pledging to hold new elections at an unspecified future date.
