Federal prosecutors in New York plan to bring new charges against Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores related to the alleged torture of Americans held in Venezuela, CNN reported Wednesday.
According to sources who spoke with the outlet, an announcement on the charges could come as early as Thursday.
The new charges reportedly center on what the U.S. government has described as the wrongful detention of more than a dozen American citizens in Venezuelan prisons while Maduro ran a repressive regime in the country.
The sources also told CNN that investigators have discussed charging several additional people over their alleged roles in the torture of Americans.
More than a dozen Americans were detained by the Maduro government, CNN reported, and several of them have publicly described the torture they say they endured behind bars.
Two of those Americans, Matthew Heath and Osman Khan, were freed in a prisoner swap in October 2022. In a lawsuit, the pair alleged they were subjected to waterboarding, electrocution, threats of sexual assault, mind-altering drugs and stretches of solitary confinement.
Heath, a U.S. Marine veteran, attempted suicide while he was detained, according to the report.
The potential new charges would add to the legal troubles Maduro already faces in the United States.
In January, following his arrest on federal drug trafficking charges, Maduro appeared before a judge and defiantly insisted he remains the leader of Venezuela.
“Still president of my country,” Maduro told the judge.
“I am innocent, I am not guilty,” he also said, according to multiple reports.
Maduro was charged with narco-terrorism conspiracy, weapons charges and cocaine-importation conspiracy. He entered a plea of not guilty.
Flores also pleaded not guilty.
Maduro’s arrest drew praise from an unlikely corner. In January, the editorial board of The Washington Post celebrated the move.
The Post’s editors wrote that millions of people around the world, especially in Venezuela, were celebrating the fall of the dictator. They described President Donald Trump’s decision to capture Maduro as one of the boldest moves a president has made in years.
The editors also called the operation an unquestionable tactical success.
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