Maduro, wife plead not guilty in US torture conspiracy case
What's next: Their Manhattan federal trial was pushed to June 14, 2027, after prosecutors added torture-related charges.
Former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, pleaded not guilty in Manhattan federal court to new US charges accusing them of conspiring to torture political opponents. The indictment broadens an existing criminal case that already included drug trafficking-related counts. Prosecutors allege Maduro directed Venezuelan officials to abuse opposition figures and military personnel accused of plotting against him, while Flores backed at least one plan described in the filing. Judge Alvin Hellerstein entered the pleas and postponed the trial by two weeks, setting a new start date of June 14, 2027. Maduro and Flores were brought to New York after a January US military raid in Caracas and are being held in Brooklyn.