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BackVenezuela's former first lady seeks release from jail while awaiting US drug-trafficking trial
Venezuela's former first lady seeks release from jail while awaiting US drug-trafficking trial
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SCMP Economy2 hours agoCrime1 min readChina

Venezuela's former first lady seeks release from jail while awaiting US drug-trafficking trial

venezuelacia floresnicolas maduro

Quick Look

Cilia Flores, wife of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, is requesting home confinement instead of jail detention while awaiting trial on US drug-trafficking charges, citing a worsening heart condition; her lawyers filed the request in a Manhattan federal court, proposing 24-hour armed surveillance and court-approved visitors at a residence within the judicial district.

AI-generated summary

Why It Matters

Cilia Flores and Nicolas Maduro were seized by US forces from their Caracas home in a midnight raid in early January 2025 and brought to New York City to face drug-trafficking charges in federal court.

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Venezuela’s former first lady wants to be let out of jail while she and her husband await trial on US drug-trafficking charges.

Cilia Flores, the wife of ex-Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, “deserves the opportunity to await her trial while on home confinement” while dealing with a heart condition that has only got worse since she’s been in jail, her lawyers wrote in court papers filed on Wednesday.

The lawyers, Mark Donnelly and Andres Sanchez, asked a judge to allow her to leave a Brooklyn federal jail for a home within the Manhattan federal court district where she and Maduro are scheduled to stand trial next June.

There, the lawyers said, she will be under 24-hour-a-day armed surveillance and will only be allowed to see visitors approved by the court and federal prosecutors. The home will be monitored by video and her calls will be recorded, the lawyers said.

Federal prosecutors have yet to file a response. A spokesman for the US attorney’s office in Manhattan declined to comment. The judge, Alvin K. Hellerstein, has yet to rule on Flores’ request.

Flores, 69, and Maduro, 63, have been held at a Brooklyn jail since US forces seized them from their Caracas home in a middle-of-the-night raid in early January and brought them to New York City.

What to Watch

AI outlook — possibilities, not facts

  • Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein will rule on Cilia Flores' home confinement request within the next two weeks.

    Likely · Within weeks

Open Questions

  • What specific evidence supports the US drug-trafficking charges against Flores and Maduro?
  • When will Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein rule on the home confinement request?
  • What is the exact nature and severity of Cilia Flores' heart condition?
  • Will Nicolas Maduro also seek similar release from detention?

Related Topics

venezuela
PeopleCilia FloresNicolas MaduroMark DonnellyAndres Sanchez
OrganizationsUS Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York
PlacesBrooklyn federal jailManhattan federal court districtCaracas
Topicscia floresnicolas madurous drug traffickinghome confinementbrooklyn jailmanhattan federal court
This article was originally published by SCMP Economy.

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