Rizky Amelia
Former Venezuelan First Lady Cilia Flores de Maduro has petitioned a United States federal court to grant her pre-trial release into home confinement, arguing that a worsening cardiovascular condition requires medical care and rehabilitation environments that federal detention cannot provide. Her defense attorneys submitted the formal request after warning that her physical health has deteriorated sharply during her months in American custody.
The application for pre-trial release, submitted on Wednesday to a federal court in New York, asks that Flores be permitted to await her scheduled criminal trial under strict home detention in Manhattan. The legal filing outlines a dramatic shift in her medical status following her apprehension by American armed forces earlier this year.
According to the court documents, Flores’s health has experienced an alarming downturn since the January 3 US military operation that resulted in her abduction alongside her husband, former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, from their home in Caracas. Following that one-day military operation, both were transported directly to New York City, where they have remained incarcerated awaiting trial.
Her legal representatives underscored that prior to the US military action in Venezuela, the 69-year-old former first lady was physically healthy and required no ongoing daily pharmaceutical treatments. Her only regular health requirement had been a monthly injection designed to help manage a diagnosed mitral valve prolapse, a condition affecting one of the heart’s valves.
Since entering the US prison system, however, Flores has reportedly not received this critical monthly injection to manage her valve disorder. Her attorneys stressed that the continued absence of this regular preventive therapy has exacerbated her underlying cardiac vulnerability, creating serious new medical complications while she remains behind bars.
The health situation worsened considerably over the summer. Following detailed consultations with outside medical specialists who reviewed her symptoms, Flores’s legal team stated they believe she may have suffered an unaddressed minor heart attack on July 29 while in US detention, marking a dangerous escalation in her cardiovascular decline.
Rather than receiving her prior monthly injection therapy, Flores has since been prescribed four different medications to manage her deteriorating condition. Her current regimen includes a daily statin, baby aspirin, and diltiazem, along with a supply of nitroglycerin that she must keep constantly at her side to use whenever she suffers chest pain or faces a potential heart attack.
Medical experts who examined Flores’s condition have advised that she undergo coronary exploration, a specialized procedure that could lead to subsequent heart surgeries. If she undergoes such treatment, her lawyers stated that she will require an extended recovery period in a setting specifically suited to restoring her physical health.
Thursday’s filing made clear that Flores does not challenge the competence or professionalism of the medical personnel who have treated her while in custody. Instead, the defense emphasized that a detention center fundamentally lacks the physical and restorative conditions required for an individual recovering from complex cardiac procedures and potential invasive surgeries.
To address these medical concerns, the legal team proposed moving Flores from the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn to a private residence situated within the Manhattan federal court district. This arrangement would allow her to receive necessary care in an environment better suited to her recovery ahead of the legal proceedings.
Under the detailed home detention plan submitted by her attorneys, Flores would be placed under round-the-clock armed guard and continuous monitoring. The residence would be equipped with comprehensive video surveillance, all telephone calls would be recorded, and personal visits would be strictly limited to individuals approved by federal prosecutors and the court.
US District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein, who is overseeing the criminal proceedings, has not yet issued a ruling on the pre-trial release application. The court must now weigh the defense’s urgent medical claims against the government's custody requirements.
Flores, 69, and Maduro, 63, have been held in US custody since the January raid on their residence in Caracas. Both have entered formal pleas of not guilty to federal charges accusing them of drug- and weapons-related crimes, centered on allegations of participating in a conspiracy to traffic cocaine into the United States.
Flores was a prominent and influential political figure in Venezuela long before her detention. She served as the country’s first lady following Maduro’s initial presidential inauguration in 2013, having previously led the National Assembly for more than four years as a senior leader within the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV).
The arrest and detention of the couple followed years of bitter conflict between Caracas and the administration of US President Donald Trump. Washington had repeatedly accused the Venezuelan government of facilitating drug trafficking into the US, while both Maduro and Flores have also faced persistent allegations regarding human rights abuses and the suppression of political dissent.
With the pre-trial motion regarding her health and confinement now pending before Judge Hellerstein, both Flores and Maduro remain scheduled to face a federal jury trial in Manhattan next June on the drug trafficking and weapons charges.
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