American judge Alvin Hellerstein scheduled for Thursday an audience in New York for Nicolás Maduro and Cili Flores to respond to new charges of conspiracy to commit torture.
© Federico PARRA / AFP via Getty Images
14/10/2026
by
Lusa
O american judge Alvin Hellerstein scheduled for Thursday a hearing in New York for the deposed Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores, to answer the new charges of conspiracy to commit torture.
The new charges were charged to them by the U.S. Federal Attorney's Office last week.
In accordance with the order issued today by the magistrate and published in the proceedings, the hearing will take place at 11:00 (16:00 from Lisbon) and will discuss the charges contained in the updated charge against Maduro and Flores.
A week ago, the U.S. Attorney’s Office filed charges of conspiracy to commit torture against both of them and extended the charge of narcoterrorism — which previously only fell on Maduro — to Flores.
They remain charged with conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States, as well as possession and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices.
According to the updated prosecution text, the Maduro Government inflicted torture on Venezuela against opponents, military and other people arrested, including three US citizens, and followed a strategy of “repression and torture” to remain in power for years.
As for the charge of narcoterrorism, the United States claims that Maduro and Flores conspired to distribute and have in their possession “five kilograms or more of mixtures and substances containing a detectable amount of cocaine” with the intention of providing “economic value” to people or organisations linked to “terrorist activities”.
Nicolás Maduro and Cililia Flores was captured on January 3rd this year by U.S. military forces in Caracas and then transported to New York, where they remain detained while responding to the lawsuit.
The hearing on Thursday will consist of the formal reading of the charges, after which the defendants have the right to plead guilty or innocent.
The trial is scheduled for June 2027, and another hearing is scheduled for November 17, in which the judge will examine a motion to reject the charges on the basis of sovereign immunity, a request to which the U.S. Attorney's Office objected.