Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores may have had a jurisdictional argument in response to their previous indictment for drug trafficking. The Department of Justice just mooted it in a new indictment, charging both with torturing Americans as part of a conspiracy to maintain power in Venezuela.
The chickens are coming home to roost:
Nicolás Maduro and his wife were charged with conspiring to commit torture, as part of what federal prosecutors said was a scheme to maintain power in Venezuela by relying on repression and violence that included torturing U.S. detainees.
A revised indictment made public Thursday alleged that the deposed leader committed human-rights violations while serving as Venezuela’s president. Prosecutors said the torture included electric shocks, starvation and threats to harm and kill victims’ families.
U.S. Special Forces seized Maduro, 63 years old, and his wife Cilia Flores, 69, from their home in Caracas during a military operation earlier this year. The couple, who also face drug-trafficking charges, have been held at a federal jail in Brooklyn, N.Y., since being brought to the U.S. Their trial is scheduled for June.
The Maduros actually had two jurisdictional arguments. The first was that the US did not have criminal jurisdiction over alleged crimes that took place outside its own territory. Manuel Noriega tried that defense, however, and it failed when the DoJ asserted that drug trafficking into the US gave us enough jurisdiction to prosecute. Noriega also tried the sovereign-immunity claim that Maduro was preparing as a second argument for dismissal, and needless to say, that didn't enjoy any more success than the first jurisdictional argument.
Also, the current Venezuelan government has refused to support the Maduros' claims of sovereign immunity, as would likely be necessary for the argument to have a chance of success. Make of that what you will, but it seems that Delcy Rodriguez got the intended message from Maduro's capture by US forces from his stronghold in Caracas.
The US has an even stronger argument when it comes to jurisdiction over the treatment of Americans. In this case, the testimony is gruesome, as CNN reports:
A US citizen accused of participating in a conspiracy to assassinate Maduro was detained and tortured in January 2022, prosecutors say.
He was eventually released and returned to the US in October.
During his detention, “The officers punched him in the face and abdomen, covered his face, and poured a noxious liquid over his face that caused him to vomit, which the officer then forced him to eat,” the indictment said.
At some point he was transferred to Boleita Norte prison for more than eight months, where he endured further torture like electrocution and forced injections the victim says caused seizures, the indictment said.
“That torture included electric shock to Victim-7’s arms, legs, and genitals; asphyxiation; beatings; deprivation of food and water; and forced injections of a substance that caused Victim-? to experience seizures,” it said.
That's not the only American to report torture at the hands of the Maduro regime:
Several Americans detained by the Maduro government have spoken out about the torture say they were subjected to while they were imprisoned. Matthew Heath and Osman Khan, who were freed in a prisoner swap in October 2022, alleged in a lawsuit that they were subjected to waterboarding, electrocution, threats of sexual assault, use of mind-altering drugs, and periods of solitary confinement. Heath, a US Marine veteran, attempted suicide while he was detained.
The “CITGO 6,” a group of six American oil executives who were lured to Venezuela in 2017 and detained for nearly five years, also say they were subjected to brutal conditions while in Venezuelan detention. In lawsuits filed against their employer — Citgo — Tomeu Vadell, Alirio Jose Zambrano and Jose Luis Zambrano said they were subjected to torture while imprisoned.
Even with all of this as background, Donald Trump tried negotiating with Maduro to get him to step aside and retire comfortably. Maduro responded by calling Trump a "coward" and dared Trump to "come and get me."
Not only did Trump come get him, it looks as though the Trump administration wants to tee Maduro up for a life sentence at the ADX Florence supermax prison. This is not just aimed at Maduro either, but at any other dictators who take liberties with American detainees. It may have taken a while, but Maduro is about to answer for that treatment, and Delcy Rodriguez won't be the only one getting the proper message from it.
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