The president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, and First Lady and National Assembly Deputy Cilia Flores pleaded not guilty to the charges of torture in the new US indictment against them. On Thursday, October 15, they appeared at a court hearing in New York after the US Attorney General unveiled a new indictment against them last week. After hearing the arguments, Maduro and Flores pled not guilty to the new charges of conspiracy to commit torture brought against them by the prosecution.
President Maduro and the first lady appeared before judge Alvin Hellerstein of the Southern District of New York who is in charge of the lawfare case against the Venezuelan presidential couple. During their appearance, both stated that they had read the new indictment in its entirety. The Venezuelan president dismissed the charges, stating that it is based on false and deceitful accusations, which he had already heard in the past, and of which he declared himself completely innocent. Similarly, Flores declared, “I am completely innocent, I am not guilty.”
According to media reports, Judge Hellerstein accepted a request made by the prosecution and the defense to postpone the start of the trial by two weeks, in order to have more time to file pre-trial motions. The start of the trial has been set for June 14, 2027, while the next hearing was scheduled for December 17, 2026, when the defense’s motions to dismiss the case will be heard.
The Venezuelan president and first lady remain kidnaped in the United States following the January 3 military invasion of Venezuela by the US. After the military incursion, which left more than a hundred people dead, including military personnel and civilians, Maduro and Flores were forcibly transferred to the US and accused of conspiracy to import cocaine into US territory, and of possession and conspiracy to possess arms.
On October 8, the US Attorney General added a charge of conspiracy to commit torture to the case against the Venezuelan president. The charge of conspiracy to commit narco-terrorism was also expanded to include Flores, which until that moment had only been against President Maduro.
The maneuver is aimed at preventing the judicial process from collapsing due to a lack of compelling evidence to cover legal gaps. It is worth noting that the Attorney General was forced to withdraw from the accusation the claim that President Maduro led the non-existent Cartel of the Suns, which the White House presented as a platform for drug trafficking during the months leading up to the invasion of Venezuela.
On October 8, Judge Hellerstein dismissed the request from Cilia Flores’ defense to grant her bail and allow her to serve pretrial detention under house arrest in a private residence in New York City.
The defense’s request was based on the deterioration of the cardiac health of Cilia Flores, who turns 70 on October 15, with episodes of chest pain, arrhythmias, and a weight loss of more than 11 kilos since her abduction. The legal team stated that she requires medical treatment and recovery outside of prison, and proposed GPS monitoring and other security measures.
The judge alleged that there is a supposed risk of flight, and that the guarantees offered were insufficient.
Upon presenting the new charge, US Attorney General Todd Blanche—who was a lawyer for US President Donald Trump and is known for the political weaponization of the judicial system—stated, “A new indictment has just been unsealed, replacing the previous one, charging Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores with conspiracy to commit torture, including the alleged torture of US citizens for more than two decades.”
From the very beginning of this case, President Maduro questioned the legality of the kidnapping and invoked sovereign immunity. “I am the president of Venezuela, I am a prisoner of war,” he stated during the first hearing of the trial. Similarly, Flores claimed immunity as first lady.
In addition to the above, objections have been raised by the defense, which has challenged the legality of the kidnapping, questioned the territorial jurisdiction of U.S. courts, and denounced the blocking of licenses by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for the Venezuelan government’s financing of their legal fees. In this context, defense attorneys Barry Pollack and Mark Donnelly condemned these obstacles as violations of the Sixth Amendment.
Amid the scrutiny, at the end of September, Deputy Attorney General Jason A. Richman, co-head of National Security at the Federal Prosecutor’s Office for the Southern District of New York, who led and supervised the prosecution against Maduro and Flores from its early stages, submitted his resignation. In a letter to Hellerstein, he stated that he ceased to be employed by the Federal Prosecutor’s Office on September 25, without offering further details.
In the legal field, Richman’s resignation is considered as a significant loss for the US government’s strategy and occurred less than nine months before the trial against Maduro and Flores.
US Judge Denies Venezuela’s Cilia Flores Medical Bail as Solidarity Campaigns Demand Her Release
Brief chronology of the case
January 3, 2026: after bombing Caracas and several cities, US special forces kidnapped President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores in the Venezuelan capital and illegally transferred them to the United States. The invasion left more than a hundred people dead, including civilians and military personnel, and a similar number injured. Delcy Rodríguez, then executive vice president, assumed the role of acting president.
January 5: first appearance of Maduro and Flores in New York. Both plead not guilty and are held at the Brooklyn Federal Detention Center.
July: Prosecution and defense agree that the trial will begin on June 1, 2027, with a preliminary hearing on November 17.
September 9: Cilia Flores’s defense requests bail and house arrest. The judge orders the medical records to be kept sealed.
September 25: Deputy Attorney General Jason A. Richman resigns.
October 8: Judge Alvin Hellerstein denies the bail request for Cilia Flores made by the legal team. On the same day, the Attorney General’s Office presents the new charge of conspiracy to commit torture.
October 15: The hearing is held in which the Attorney General presents new charges (conspiracy to commit torture). Maduro and Flores plead not guilty. The judge accepts a request from the prosecution and the defense to postpone the start of the trial by two weeks, which has been rescheduled for June 14, 2027. The next hearing is scheduled for December 17, 2026.
Manifestación en Brooklyn en apoyo el presidente venezolano, Nicolas Maduro y su esposa Cilia Flores. https://t.co/5QjStnhDep
— teleSUR TV (@teleSURtv) August 4, 2026
The aggression against Venezuela and the kidnapping of President Maduro and Cilia Flores have been condemned in mobilizations held around the world. As the case continues, hundreds of protesters gather in the vicinity of the Southern District Court of Manhattan on the days of the trial to show their solidarity and repudiate White House’s warmongering and interference.
(Telesur)
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/SC/CD
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