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Cilia Flores de Maduro, the former first lady of Venezuela, has formally petitioned a United States federal judge to grant her release from prison into home confinement, citing a severe and worsening cardiac condition while being held in federal custody. Her legal representatives maintain that the current detention environment cannot provide the specialized medical treatments and recovery conditions she urgently requires to address her deteriorating health.
The application for pre-trial release was submitted to the court on Wednesday, requesting permission for Flores to await her upcoming trial from a designated residential property located within Manhattan. Her defense attorneys argued that her medical status has grown increasingly perilous during her time behind bars, necessitating an immediate shift in her custodial arrangement.
The formal court filing detailed what her attorneys described as a sharp decline in her physical well-being since January 3, when a US military operation culminated in her forced removal from Caracas alongside her husband, former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Both were subsequently transported to New York and placed in federal holding facilities to face pending criminal proceedings.
According to the legal submission, Flores had maintained stable physical health prior to the American military intervention in Venezuela. Her medical routine at the time was limited to a single monthly injection designed to manage mitral valve prolapse, a condition characterized by improper functioning of one of the heart’s primary valves.
However, her attorneys stated that her health profile has drastically worsened since her imprisonment in New York. Flores is currently required to take a daily regimen of four separate medications, which include baby aspirin, a cholesterol-lowering statin, and diltiazem, while keeping nitroglycerin continually by her side for immediate use during sudden bouts of chest pain or a potential heart attack.
After reviewing her condition with independent medical specialists, Flores’s legal counsel expressed serious concern that she may have suffered a minor heart attack on July 29 while in custody. The attorneys also highlighted that she has been entirely deprived of the monthly therapeutic injections she previously relied upon to control her mitral valve prolapse throughout her months of detention.
Medical professionals evaluating the former first lady have recommended that she undergo an exploratory cardiac procedure to assess the extent of her cardiovascular damage, an intervention that could lead to subsequent heart surgery. Her legal team insisted that should such medical procedures take place, Flores will require a calm and supportive setting conducive to physical recovery, which cannot be found inside a jail.
The court filing clarified that Flores does not challenge the professionalism or quality of the care rendered by the medical personnel treating her. Rather, the defense argued that a standard federal detention facility lacks the necessary infrastructure, peaceful environment, and specialized post-operative conditions essential for recovering from serious cardiac surgery.
As a solution, the legal team proposed transferring the 69-year-old from the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn to a private residence situated within the Manhattan federal court district. To alleviate concerns regarding flight risk or public safety, her lawyers outlined an exceptionally strict set of supervisory conditions.
Under the proposed home detention framework, Flores would be subject to continuous, 24-hour armed monitoring by security personnel. In addition, any individuals wishing to visit her residence would first have to be formally vetted and approved by both the presiding judge and federal prosecutors handling the case.
The defense proposal also incorporates continuous interior video surveillance of the residence and the recording of all outgoing and incoming telephone calls, ensuring that authorities maintain total oversight over her communications and daily movements while she receives medical supervision.
Flores and her 63-year-old husband, Nicolas Maduro, have been held in federal custody since the January raid on their residence in Caracas. Both have entered formal pleas of not guilty to federal charges alleging that they participated in a wide-ranging conspiracy to smuggle cocaine into the United States, alongside additional weapons-related offenses.
The criminal charges follow years of heightened geopolitical tension between Maduro’s administration and the government of US President Donald Trump. Washington repeatedly accused Venezuelan officials of aiding international narcotics networks, while Maduro and Flores also faced persistent international allegations of human rights abuses and the suppression of political opponents.
Flores was a prominent political figure in Venezuela long before her detention, having served as the nation's first lady following Maduro’s initial presidential inauguration in 2013. Prior to his presidency, she was a senior leader in the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) and served as the president of the National Assembly for more than four years.
With the joint criminal trial of Flores and Maduro scheduled to commence next June in Manhattan federal court, her defense team argues that urgent judicial intervention is necessary to preserve her health. US District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein has taken the pre-trial release motion under advisement and has yet to issue a formal ruling.
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