Maduro and his wife have been charged with conspiracy to commit torture

On Thursday, U.S. prosecutors filed a new set of charges in court against former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores, adding a count of torture. 

They had previously been charged with weapons and drug-related offenses; they denied guilt on those counts.

The indictment states that Maduro and his wife sought to cling to power through repression. To this end, they systematically employed "violence against the political opposition, arbitrary detentions, and the torture of detainees, including U.S. citizens."

 Maduro and Flores were already facing drug trafficking charges; with this new indictment, they must answer to the U.S. justice system for alleged human rights violations committed during their time in power.

 Meanwhile, Cilia Flores, wife of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, may have suffered a heart attack and has lost a significant amount of weight; consequently, her lawyers will ask the judge this Thursday to release her from prison and place her under house arrest, the Associated Press reports, citing the First Lady's defense team.

"Her lawyers state that she has lost 25 pounds [11 kilograms] during her confinement at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn and has been told she might need heart surgery. 

They also noted that she suffers from 'persistent lightheadedness, dizziness, and shortness of breath' and may have suffered a mild heart attack in July," the agency reports.

 The defense for Flores, 69, maintains that her health issues cannot be effectively treated in prison and suggests she could stay at a New York residence under 24-hour surveillance.

Additionally, the legal team reports that Flores bears permanent scars from when she was "thrown against a wall or a dresser" during her kidnapping.

The lawyers also requested that the case be dismissed, arguing that both Maduro and his wife enjoy immunity as the head of state and first lady of a foreign country.