Maduro and Flores Plead Not Guilty to Torture Charges

Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores pleaded not guilty Thursday in Manhattan federal court to newly added charges alleging they conspired to commit torture in Venezuela. The charges expand a U.S. criminal case that already includes allegations of narcotics trafficking and weapons offenses, which both defendants have also denied. The superseding indictment accuses Maduro and Flores of overseeing or helping develop a system of repression that prosecutors say used torture against political opponents, military personnel and others regarded as threats. Prosecutors do not accuse either defendant of personally carrying out torture. The allegations have not been tested at trial. The indictment describes beatings, electric shocks, suffocation and psychological abuse, and alleges that officials targeted detainees to obtain information or punish perceived opposition. In an account of a 2014 meeting, prosecutors say Maduro urged officials to intensify questioning of detained military personnel, using the phrase “squeeze them harder,” and that Flores agreed with the plan.