Maduro’s wife seeks home detention as heart condition worsens in US custody | Nicolas Maduro News
Venezuela’s former first lady, Cilia Flores de Maduro, has requested pre-trial release from federal detention in the United States, citing a deteriorating heart condition. In an application submitted Wednesday, her legal team urged the court to allow her to await trial under home confinement in Manhattan.
The filing details Flores’s declining health, which her attorneys attribute to her abduction from Caracas and subsequent imprisonment in New York following a U.S. military operation on January 3. The legal document states that before the operation, Flores was in good health and required only a monthly injection to manage her mitral valve prolapse.
Her health has since reportedly declined, leading to prescriptions for four medications, including nitroglycerin for potential heart attack symptoms. Flores’s lawyers also claim that medical professionals have recommended coronary exploration and possibly surgery.
Flores has been a prominent figure in Venezuelan politics, serving as first lady since her husband, Nicolás Maduro, took office in 2013. She was also a leading member of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) and held the position of National Assembly president for over four years. The Maduro administration has been at odds with the U.S. government, particularly during Donald Trump’s presidency, which accused Venezuela of involvement in drug trafficking.
Following the U.S. operation, both Cilia Flores and Nicolás Maduro were charged with drug and weapons offenses and are currently awaiting trial in New York City. Her legal team has expressed concern about the adequacy of medical care she has received while in custody, asserting that she has not received her required monthly injections for her condition since her detention.
Their filing acknowledges that she has received good medical care but contends that the conditions of a detention center are not conducive to her recovery. Flores’s attorneys propose relocating her from the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn to a home within the jurisdiction of the Manhattan federal court, where they anticipate she will stand trial next June.
Under the proposed home confinement arrangement, Flores would be monitored around the clock, with approved visitations restricted and her residence subject to video surveillance.
U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein has not yet made a ruling on this release application. Cilia Flores, 69, and Nicolás Maduro, 63, have been in U.S. custody since the January raid and have both pleaded not guilty to the charges against them.
