Ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, have pleaded not guilty to new charges in the United States accusing them of conspiring to torture political opponents.
The couple entered their pleas on Thursday before US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein at a federal court in Manhattan, New York.
The new indictment, filed last Thursday, expands the criminal case against Maduro, 63, and Flores, 70, who had previously pleaded not guilty to charges of abusing their positions to help drug traffickers transport cocaine.
During the hearing, Maduro rejected the allegations, describing them as false.
“I have seen it in its entirety, Judge Hellerstein,” Maduro said, referring to the indictment. “I reject this document in its entirety.”
The judge interrupted him and directed that a not-guilty plea be entered on his behalf.
Flores also denied the allegations, saying, “I am completely innocent. I am not guilty.”
Prosecutors at the Manhattan US Attorney’s Office allege that Maduro directed Venezuelan officials to torture opposition politicians and military personnel suspected of plotting against him in an effort to maintain his grip on power.
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According to the indictment, Maduro allegedly instructed officials in 2014 to detain military personnel to obtain information about possible dissidents. When some refused to cooperate, he allegedly told officials to “squeeze them harder”.
The indictment further alleges that Flores supported the plan during the meeting and rejected an alternative proposal to obtain information by infiltrating the group.
Neither Maduro nor Flores is accused of personally carrying out acts of torture. However, each faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 50 years in prison if convicted on all charges.
Judge Hellerstein postponed the start of the trial by two weeks to June 14, 2027, to allow for the additional charges.
Maduro and Flores were captured by the US military on January 3 during a raid ordered by President Donald Trump at their home in Caracas, Venezuela. They were subsequently flown to the United States to face drug-trafficking charges announced on the day of their capture.
The couple has since been held at the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn, New York.
Relations between Maduro’s government and Washington were strained throughout his 13 years in power, with successive US administrations imposing sanctions on Venezuelan officials and state-owned companies over alleged human rights abuses, corruption and electoral irregularities.
Maduro, in turn, accused the United States of seeking to remove him from power to gain greater control over Venezuela’s natural resources.
Since his capture, his former vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, has led Venezuela and increased cooperation with Washington.
President Trump has described Maduro’s capture and the subsequent improvement in relations with Venezuela as a major foreign policy achievement ahead of the November 3 US midterm elections.
