Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores pleaded not guilty to new charges of conspiracy to commit torture in a US court. Judge Alvin Hellerstein declared the court would enter a plea of not guilty for Maduro.
"I reject this document entirely," Maduro said during the proceedings. "I am completely innocent. I am not guilty," Flores stated in her defense.
The US government added these new charges against the pair last week, following initial accusations of narco-terrorism, drug trafficking, and weapons-related offenses. Government prosecutors alleged that Maduro and Flores established a violent system of repression where thousands of Venezuelans were harassed, killed, or tortured.
The indictment specifies that alleged torture methods included rape, asphyxiation, electric shock, forced nudity, starvation, and psychological torture. Authorities also accused Maduro of authorising the use of torture against specific individuals, including US citizens, under this system.
Prosecutors further claimed that Maduro, his wife, and their son engaged in a cocaine-trafficking conspiracy with cartels designated as terrorist groups. Maduro described the charges as a tool to advance imperial plans for accessing Venezuela's rich oil reserves.
Flores petitioned a judge to allow her release on bond due to heart problems and other health issues while she remains at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. The trial for both Maduro and Flores is scheduled to begin in June 2027.
Both individuals were captured during a US military raid in January.
"I reject this document entirely," Maduro said.
Maduro
