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Cilia Flores returned to a New York court seeking release to house arrest over serious heart concerns. The plea sharpens scrutiny of her detention as prosecutors insist she remains a flight and public safety risk.
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Newyork,Oct 8, 2026 15:50 IST
Cilia Flores, the wife of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, was due back in court in New York on Thursday, where her lawyers were to ask a judge to release her from jail and place her under house arrest, citing heart problems. Flores and Maduro have been in custody in New York since early January, when they were seized from their Caracas home in a middle-of-the-night raid.
Both have pleaded not guilty in a criminal case first brought six years ago against them and several alleged co-conspirators. They face possible life sentences if convicted of taking part in a conspiracy to send cocaine into the United States. Their lawyers have also asked for the case to be dismissed, arguing that they have immunity as the leader and first lady of a foreign country.
Lawyers for Flores, 69, said she has medical issues that cannot be treated effectively in jail and should instead be allowed to stay under 24-hour guard at a residence in New York. They also said she suffered permanent scarring when she was "thrown against a wall or dresser" during the US military action that led to her capture.
According to her lawyers, Flores has lost 25 pounds, or 11 kilograms, while being held at the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn and has been told she might need heart surgery. They said she also suffers from "lingering lightheadedness, dizziness and shortness of breath" and might have suffered a minor heart attack in July. Prosecutors opposed the bail request, saying in a court filing that Flores would pose an "extreme risk of flight and danger to the public" if released. They also said she had been taken from jail for treatment at a local hospital when needed.
President Donald Trump's administration has defended the raid to capture Maduro as a "surgical law enforcement operation", while Maduro has described himself as a prisoner of war and called his capture a kidnapping. Flores is charged with taking part in a cocaine importation conspiracy with Maduro, who served as Venezuela's president from 2013 until his capture by American forces in January. Her lawyers said she was not a flight risk because she is "intent on supporting her husband with her constant presence". In court on Thursday, the judge was set to consider that request as Flores continued to challenge her detention and the case against her.
With PTI Inputs
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