Maduro’s wife seeks home detention as heart condition worsens in US custody

What the report says

Cilia Flores de Maduro, the wife of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and a former first lady, has asked a US federal judge to let her leave detention and await trial under home confinement in Manhattan. In a filing reported by Al Jazeera and Associated Press on Wednesday, her lawyers said her heart condition has worsened in US custody and that she needs cardiac treatment and recovery options they argue a detention centre cannot provide.

The request says Flores, 69, has been held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn after a US military raid in Caracas on January 3 that led to her and Maduro’s removal from Venezuela. Her legal team said she may have suffered a minor heart attack on July 29, and claimed she has not been receiving the same treatment she previously used to manage mitral valve prolapse. They said doctors have advised a cardiac procedure and that she would need time to recover in a setting better suited to her health.

The filing states that Flores does not challenge the quality of medical care she has received, but contends the detention facility is not appropriate for post-procedure recovery. Her lawyers proposed strict home detention with armed monitoring, court-approved visitors, and surveillance of the residence and phone calls.

Flores and Maduro have pleaded not guilty to US drug- and weapons-related charges and are awaiting trial in New York City, with proceedings expected next June. Judge Alvin K Hellerstein had not ruled on the request at the time of publication.