Venezuela’s Maduro to face new U.S. charges over alleged torture of Americans, says official

In this courtroom sketch, from left, former Venezuela President Nicholas Maduro, attorneys Anna Estevao and Mark Donnelly, and Maduro's wife, Cilia Flores, stand during a pretrial hearing in a drug trafficking case for Maduro and Flores, Wednesday, July 22, 2026, at Manhattan federal court in New York. (Jane Rosenberg via AP)

WASHINGTON - Ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores are expected to face new criminal charges in the U.S. over the alleged torture of Americans held in the South American country, a U.S. official said on Wednesday.

The announcement could come as soon as Thursday, the official said.

Maduro and Flores were captured by the U.S. military from their homes in Caracas on January 3 and brought to New York to face drug trafficking charges. They have pleaded not guilty.

A spokesperson for the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s office, which brought the charges, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The possibility of new charges was first reported by CNN earlier on Wednesday.

Reporting by Andrew Goudsward and Jasper Ward in Washington;Editing by David Ljunggren