Maduro’s wife seeks house arrest over serious heart condition
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- Cilia Flores is asking a New York court to transfer her from federal detention to house arrest, citing serious heart problems.
- Her lawyers say she may require an urgent arterial catheterization or surgery.
Cilia Flores, the wife of ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, has asked to be released from federal detention in New York and placed under house arrest, citing serious heart problems.
Her lawyer, Mark Donnelly, said in a court filing that Flores, 69, has suffered health setbacks requiring an arterial catheterization or potentially urgent surgery.
Flores has been held with Maduro at a federal detention facility in Brooklyn since the couple were arrested by US forces in Caracas on January 3.
Flores’ defense argued that the conditions of her detention do not provide adequate medical care. Her lawyers proposed placing her under house arrest in the United States under round-the-clock armed security, with electronic monitoring and the seizure of her passport.
Flores and Maduro face federal charges accusing them of facilitating the trafficking of tons of cocaine into the United States. Both have categorically denied the allegations.
Maduro, 63, has maintained that he is being treated by Washington as a "prisoner of war."
