U.S. Judge Rejects Bail, House Arrest Request for Venezuela’s First Combatant Cilia Flores
(FILE) The judge’s ruling means Flores will remain in detention while the case moves toward the November hearing. Photo: Venezuelan Presidential Press.
October 8, 2026 Hour: 4:51 pm
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U.S. federal judge Alvin Hellerstein in New York on Thursday rejected a request by the defense of Cilia Flores, Venezuela’s First Combatant, for release on bail and to serve pretrial detention under house arrest at a private residence in that city.
The decision follows a formal process that began on September 9 with the defense’s petition. The judge subsequently ordered the medical records submitted to be kept under seal, so the specific content of those documents remains unknown to the public.
RELATED: Global Manifesto Demands Immediate Freedom for President Maduro and Cilia Flores
The proposal submitted by the lawyers of the wife of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro included GPS monitoring and other security measures. However, the judge argued that there is an alleged “flight risk” and said the guarantees offered were insufficient.
Health Plea Rejected
Health stood at the center of the motion. Flores is 69 years-old, and her lawyers described a deteriorating heart condition marked by chest pain and arrhythmias. She has also lost more than 11 kilos since January 3, the day President Maduro and she were kidnapped in Caracas. The weight loss, her team noted, has continued across the months she has spent in detention.
The defense argued that she requires ongoing medical treatment and a period of recovery that prison cannot provide. Flores needs to heal outside the walls of the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where she has been held since her first appearance on January 5.
Those claims did not overcome the flight risk finding. The rejection leaves the request unanswered and keeps Flores in custody, alongside her husband.
Text reads: “We want them back. 279 days since their kidnapping.”
The Kidnapping Case
The legal saga traces back to January 3, 2026. On that day, U.S. special forces kidnapped the Venezuelan President and his wife in Caracas during an illegal military incursion that killed more than 100 people and wounded a similar number, civilians and soldiers among them.
After their first court appearance on January 5, at which they pleaded “not guilty,” both have remained in custody in New York, at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. President Maduro challenges the legality of the kidnapping and invokes sovereign immunity, while Flores claims immunity as First Lady.
In July, prosecutors and the defense agreed to set the oral trial for June 1, 2027, with a pretrial hearing scheduled for November 17, when the defense’s motions will be evaluated.
Venezuelan organizations and movements have repeatedly demanded the immediate release of Venezuelan President Maduro and Cilia Flores.
Author: Laura V. Mor
Source: Agencies
