Exclusive: Nicolás Maduro and his wife expected to face new charges over alleged torture of Americans

By Evan Perez, Hannah Rabinowitz, Kara Scannell, Jennifer Hansler, CNN

(CNN) — Prosecutors in New York are expected to bring new charges against former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores over the alleged torture of Americans who were held in Venezuelan government custody in recent years, according to multiple people familiar with the investigation.

An announcement could come as soon as Thursday, the people said.

The new charges relate to what the US government has said was the wrongful detention of more than a dozen US citizens in Venezuelan prisons during the time Maduro led a repressive regime in Venezuela, the people briefed on the investigation said.

Investigators have also discussed charging several additional people for their alleged role in the torture of Americans, according to a source familiar with the matter.

CNN has reached out to lawyers for Maduro and Flores.

Maduro and his wife were captured in a US military raid in January from the presidential palace in Caracas. They have pleaded not guilty to narcoterrorism conspiracy and other charges and are held without bail in New York.

Flores is expected to appear at a hearing Thursday where her lawyer will ask that she be moved to house arrest ahead of trial.

Maduro’s lawyer is challenging the legality of the arrest and argues the former president should have immunity since the alleged conduct occurred while he was in office.

The Venezuelan government is not joining in claiming immunity on his behalf, according to the prosecution.

Allegations of torture

More than a dozen Americans were detained by the Maduro government, which was accused by US government and advocates of using them as political pawns.

Several of the Americans have spoken out about the torture say they were subjected to while they were imprisoned. Matthew Heath and Osman Khan, who were freed in a prisoner swap in October 2022, alleged in a lawsuit that they were subjected to waterboarding, electrocution, threats of sexual assault, use of mind-altering drugs, and periods of solitary confinement. Heath, a US Marine veteran, attempted suicide while he was detained.

The “CITGO 6,” a group of six American oil executives who were lured to Venezuela in 2017 and detained for nearly five years, also say they were subjected to brutal conditions while in Venezuelan detention. In lawsuits filed against their employer — Citgo — Tomeu Vadell, Alirio Jose Zambrano and Jose Luis Zambrano said they were subjected to torture while imprisoned.

All of them had been held in the notorious General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence (DGCIM) — which was “responsible for arbitrary detentions, ill-treatment and torture of political opponents and their relatives,” according to a United Nations report.

That report found that DGCIM “routinely resorted” to torture practices “including electric shocks, suffocation with plastic bags, waterboarding, beatings, sexual violence, water and food deprivation, stress positions and exposure to extreme temperatures” in order to “extract information and confessions, intimidate, and punish the detainees.”

This story was updated with additional information.

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