Washington.- The wife of the deposed president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, Cilia Flores, requested this Wednesday from the New York judicial system to be able to await the trial against her and Maduro outside of prison due to heart problems.
In a court document, Flores’ defense requests that she be transferred to a private residence in New York and offers a house arrest regime with 24-hour armed guards, a tracking bracelet, restricted visits, and monitored phone calls.
Flores, 69, claims that she needs complex cardiac treatment and that the federal prison where she has been held since January 3, the day they were captured by U.S. military personnel, does not meet the necessary conditions for her recovery.
Maduro’s wife’s lawyers assert that the costs of this transfer will be covered by Flores and also offer the retention of her passport as part of the conditions to ensure she remains in custody.
In the letter presented to the court, the lawyers describe episodes of chest pain, arrhythmias, breathing difficulties, and a weight loss of more than eleven kilos since his detention.
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According to the request, on July 29th, Flores reportedly suffered a serious health episode which, according to his lawyers, could apparently have been a mild heart attack, although this has not been medically confirmed.
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Flores and Maduro were arrested in January during an operation by U.S. forces in Caracas and subsequently transferred to New York, where they face charges related to drug trafficking and terrorism.
Both have pleaded not guilty to the charges, while the Prosecution maintains that they used positions of power within the Venezuelan State to facilitate the trafficking of cocaine into the United States.
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The process is in a pre-trial phase in which the defense teams have begun to file motions to attempt to dismiss the charges.
Among their main arguments is the claim of Maduro’s sovereign immunity as the alleged head of state and questions regarding the legality of the operation through which both were captured and transferred to the United States.
Flores’ defense has also filed its own petition based on immunity linked to her status as first lady.
Federal Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein set the start of the trial for June 1, 2027, last July.
Before that date, a hearing is scheduled for November 17 to hear defense arguments on motions to dismiss the case, including Maduro’s petition based on sovereign immunity.
