Maduro and wife Cilia Flores, already charged with participating in a conspiracy to send cocaine into the U.S., now also face allegations of human rights abuses during his time as president of the oil-rich South American nation.
The updated indictment “alleges conduct that is truly unthinkable,” New York-based U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald said outside the courthouse where the case is being handled. He said thousands of Venezuelans, and some Americans, were tortured to ensure that Maduro and Flores held onto power.
“This is the epitome of corruption,” McDonald said.
The allegations include electric shocks, beatings and asphyxiation at Maduro’s behest. Maduro, the indictment claims, signed off on torture methods, sought and got updates on specific victims' treatment, watched a video of a forced confession and personally threatened the killing of one prisoner’s child “as a form of psychological torture.”
Flores, a former legislator and attorney general, helped develop the repressive system and ordered the torture of some specific people, the indictment contends.
