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Cilia Flores de Maduro, the wife of Venezuelan former President Nicolás Maduro, has asked a US federal court to release her from custody and allow her to remain under house arrest in Manhattan until her trial, citing a worsening heart condition.
According to Al Jazeera, Flores’ lawyers said in a court filing on Wednesday that her health had deteriorated after she was detained in Venezuela and taken to New York following a US military operation. Maduro was also detained in the same operation and brought to the United States.
The legal filing said Flores had been physically healthy before her detention and did not regularly take medication. She received only a monthly injection to manage mitral valve prolapse.
She now requires four types of medication to control her heart condition and carries nitroglycerin in case of a cardiac emergency. Doctors have also recommended further cardiac examinations and possible surgery, according to the filing.
Her lawyers said Flores may have suffered a minor heart attack on July 29 while in US custody, based on consultations with outside medical specialists. They also questioned whether she was receiving adequate treatment for her mitral valve prolapse.
Flores’ lawyers said she had not received the monthly injection she previously used to manage the condition since being detained in the United States. Instead, she has been given baby aspirin, a statin, diltiazem and nitroglycerin for chest pain.
They argued that Flores may require surgery in the future and would need sufficient time and suitable conditions to recover. The filing acknowledged that doctors had provided her with “excellent medical care” but argued that the detention facility was not an appropriate environment for recovery.
Her lawyers have proposed moving her from the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn to a residence in Manhattan under federal court supervision. Flores and Maduro are scheduled to face trial in the same federal district next June.
Under the proposed house-arrest arrangement, Flores would remain under round-the-clock armed supervision. Only people approved by the court and federal prosecutors would be allowed to visit her. The residence would also have video surveillance and recorded phone calls, according to the filing.
Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein had not ruled on the request as of Friday.
Flores, 69, and Maduro, 63, were detained by US forces at their home in Caracas on January 3 and have remained in US custody since then. Both have pleaded not guilty to charges alleging involvement in a conspiracy to traffic cocaine into the United States.
Flores served as Venezuela’s first lady after Maduro became president in 2013. She was previously a senior figure in the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) and served as president of the National Assembly for more than four years.
Maduro has long been at odds with US President Donald Trump’s administration. Trump has accused Venezuela of sending drug traffickers to the United States, while Maduro and Flores have also faced allegations of suppressing political opposition through violence and violating human rights.
