Key facts
- Maduro and Flores are among only eight people charged under a 1994 law criminalizing torture committed overseas.
- The charges mark the first time the US has prosecuted a head of state for allegedly authorizing torture in their country.
- The torture charge could allow prosecutors to present a more comprehensive case and call more sympathetic witnesses.
- Three alleged torture victims named in the indictment are US citizens.
Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores have pleaded not guilty to expanded charges in the US, including violating a federal law that criminalizes torture committed overseas. The couple, who also face drug trafficking charges, are scheduled to go to trial in June 2027. The 1994 law, passed to meet US obligations under the UN Convention Against Torture, has been rarely invoked, with Maduro and Flores being only the seventh and eighth individuals charged under it. Prosecutors believe the torture charges will allow them to present a more comprehensive case and potentially call more sympathetic witnesses, including three US citizens who are alleged torture victims. The Manhattan US Attorney's office brought the charges after Maduro and Flores were brought to New York following a US military raid in Caracas.