Cilia Flores, wife of the deposed president of Venezuela, requested this Wednesday from the New York judicial system to be allowed to await the trial against her and Nicolás 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 offered a house arrest regime with armed guards 24 hours a day, an electronic monitoring bracelet, restricted visits, and monitored phone calls.
Flores, 69 years old, claims 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, does not meet the necessary conditions for her recovery.
Maduro’s wife’s lawyers state that the costs of this transfer will be borne by Flores and also offer the retention of her passport as part of the conditions to ensure she remains in custody.
In the letter submitted to the court, the lawyers describe episodes of chest pain, arrhythmias, difficulty breathing, and a loss of more than eleven kilos since her detention.
According to the petition, on July 29 Flores allegedly suffered a serious health episode that, according to her lawyers, could have been a mild heart attack, although this has not been medically confirmed.
Flores and Maduro were detained in January during a U.S. forces operation in Caracas and subsequently transferred to New York, where they face charges related to drug trafficking and terrorism.
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Both have pleaded not guilty to the charges, while the prosecution maintains that they used positions of power within the Venezuelan state to facilitate cocaine trafficking to the United States.
The process is in a pre-trial phase in which the defenses have begun to file motions to try to dismiss the charges.
Their main arguments include Maduro’s claim of sovereign immunity as alleged head of state and questions about 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 trial start date for June 1, 2027, last July.
Before that date, a hearing is scheduled for November 17 to hear the defenses’ arguments on motions aimed at dismissing the case, including Maduro’s petition based on sovereign immunity.
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