In a dramatic Manhattan courtroom appearance, ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, pleaded not guilty to a new US indictment that accuses them of conspiring to torture political opponents.
The fresh counts, filed last Thursday, significantly broaden the scope of the criminal case against Mr Maduro, 63, and Ms Flores, 70.
Both had already entered not-guilty pleas to earlier allegations that they misused their authority to help drug traffickers move cocaine.
The couple were seized by the US military in a January raid ordered by President Donald Trump and transported to New York.
Wearing prison uniforms and shackled at the ankles, they entered their pleas during an arraignment in federal court in Manhattan.
A convoy of police vehicles leave the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Federal Courthouse in New York
Mr Maduro told the court he rejected the case against him as untrue.
“I have seen it in its entirety, Judge Hellerstein”, Maduro said, referring to the indictment. “I reject this document in its entirety”.
As Mr Maduro continued, the judge interrupted and said a plea of not guilty would be entered on his behalf.
Ms Flores also denied wrongdoing, telling the court, “I am completely innocent. I am not guilty”.
Prosecutors do not allege that either of them personally carried out acts of torture.
If convicted on all charges, each would face a mandatory minimum sentence of 50 years in prison.
The judge pushed the start of trial back by two weeks, setting a new date of 14 June 2027, citing the newly added charges.
‘Squeeze them harder’
Prosecutors from the Manhattan US Attorney’s office contend Mr Maduro instructed Venezuelan officials to torture opposition politicians and military personnel accused of plotting against him, portraying the actions as part of an effort to hold on to power in the South American country.
According to one episode outlined in the indictment, Mr Maduro in 2014 ordered officials to kidnap members of the military to extract information about potential dissidents, and urged them to “squeeze them harder” when some refused to cooperate.
Ms Flores, the indictment says, backed the plan and waved aside an alternative approach that would have sought information by infiltrating their ranks.
The Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse, which houses the US District Court for the Southern District of New York
Mr Maduro, a socialist, presided over 13 years of strained relations with the United States while governing the oil-rich nation.
Across multiple administrations, Washington imposed sanctions on senior Venezuelan officials and major state companies, pointing to alleged human rights abuses, corruption and election-rigging.
Mr Maduro, for his part, accused the United States of trying to oust him to secure greater access to the country’s natural resources.
Those tensions culminated in the 3 January operation, when US forces captured the couple at their home in Caracas and flew them to the United States to face drug trafficking charges announced the same day.
They have since been held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
Since Mr Maduro’s capture, his former vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, has been leading Venezuela and has increased cooperation with the United States.
President Trump has promoted Mr Maduro’s capture — and the warming ties with Venezuela — as a major foreign policy achievement ahead of the November midterm elections, where fellow Republicans are battling to keep control of Congress.
