Maduro’s wife seeks release from detention in the US

The wife of deposed former Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro, both of whom face drug trafficking charges in the US, has requested to be released from New York detention and placed under house arrest, citing heart problems.

Before her capture by US forces in January, Cilia Flores “was in good health and was not taking any long-term medication, with the exception of a monthly injection,” her attorney Mark Donnelly said in a document dated Wednesday.

While she and her husband are incarcerated in a federal jail in Brooklyn awaiting trial, the 69-year-old Flores suffers from serious heart problems that require a coronary angiogram or even surgery, according to her defense team.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, right, and his wife, Cilia Flores, wave at the National Assembly in Caracas on Jan. 10 last year.

Photo: AP

Arguing that her living conditions in detention do not allow her to receive the proper medical care, the lawyer is requesting she be placed under house arrest in the US under restrictive conditions, including 24-hour armed surveillance, an electronic ankle bracelet monitor and confiscation of her passport.

Maduro, 63, and Flores were seized by the US during a raid in Caracas and have been detained since Jan. 3.

They stand accused of helping smuggle tonnes of cocaine into the US.

Both deny the charges, while Maduro has claimed in court to be a “prisoner of war” of the US.