US to lay fresh torture charges against Venezuela's Maduro and wife

US prosecutors are expected to bring new charges against ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores over the alleged torture of Americans held in Venezuela, a US official said late on Wednesday.

The charges could be announced as soon as Thursday and reportedly concern the alleged wrongful detention of more than a dozen US citizens during Maduro's 13-year rule.

Prosecutors are also considering charges against others allegedly involved in the torture.

Details of the potential new charges and the alleged victims were not immediately available.

Maduro's wife seeks release

Meanwhile, the 69-year-old Flores is due in Manhattan federal court on Thursday where she is expected to ask a judge to release her from jail and place her under house arrest, citing health problems.

Her lawyers say she has lost 25 pounds in custody, suffers from dizziness and shortness of breath and may have suffered a minor heart attack in July.

They have proposed that she live at a New York residence under 24-hour security.

Prosecutors, however, oppose the request, arguing that Flores poses an "extreme risk of flight and danger to the public” if released.

They said she has received hospital treatment when necessary, while in custody.

Trump vs Maduro

Maduro, 63, and Flores are being held at a federal detention center in Brooklyn as they await their trial in June next year.

The couple was captured during an unprecedented middle-of-the-night raid on their Caracas home on January 3, which was hailed by US President Donald Trump as a "surgical law enforcement operation."

Critics have accused Trump of operating outside international law.

They were subsequently brought to New York, where they face existing drug trafficking and firearms charges.

Maduro has maintained his innocence, calling himself a prisoner of war and referring to his capture as a kidnapping.

Meanwhile, in August, Trump announced that the US had reached a deal to take control of part of Venezuela's vast oil reserves, which Venezuelan Interim President Delcy Rodriguez also termed "historic."

Venezuelans want elections — but when will they get them?

Edited by: Elizabeth Schumacher

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