MADURO AND WIFE CHARGED WITH TORTURE CONSPIRACY IN US COURT

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan charged former Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, with conspiracy to commit torture. The charge, announced on Thursday in a Manhattan federal court, relates to allegations that the couple tortured political opponents to maintain power. It adds to drug trafficking charges the couple already faced in the United States. Maduro and Flores have pleaded not guilty to the existing drug charges. Both have been held at the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn since their capture.

A US official briefed on the investigation said on Wednesday that the new charges were expected to concern the alleged torture of Americans held in Venezuela, and that they could be filed as soon as Thursday. The torture conspiracy charge forms part of a superseding indictment that also accuses Maduro of working with cartel groups to move cocaine through Venezuela towards the United States. Flores faces the torture conspiracy charge alongside her husband. The drug trafficking allegations and the new torture charge are now being pursued within the same criminal case.

The trial for Maduro and Flores is scheduled to begin on 1 June. The case against the pair, who were taken into US custody after their capture, continues to develop, with the latest charge filed this week. Prosecutors have not detailed further evidence underpinning the torture conspiracy allegation. The proceedings represent an escalation of the criminal case the US has pursued against Maduro over alleged drug trafficking.