New US indictment charges Maduro with overseeing machine of repression, torture of Americans

NEW YORK (AP) – United States prosecutors unveiled sweeping new criminal charges against former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Thursday, accusing him and his wife of heading a state-sponsored system of repression responsible for beating, asphyxiating and submitting scores of victims to electric shocks, including several Americans.

The torture charges add to pressure on the ousted authoritarian leader and his wife, Cilia Flores, who were seized from their Caracas home by the US military in January to face drug trafficking charges in New York.

The updated indictment "alleges conduct that is truly unthinkable", US Attorney Jamie McDonald said outside the Manhattan courthouse where the case is being handled. "This is the epitome of corruption."