Cilia Flores, the former First Lady of Venezuela currently held in a high-security US detention facility, has submitted a formal motion requesting to be placed under house arrest ahead of her trial, citing critical cardiovascular complications. Her legal defense team filed the motion in a New York federal district court seeking bail on humanitarian and medical grounds.
According to legal documents presented to the court on Thursday, Flores’s cardiac health has deteriorated sharply due to inadequate specialized medical care while in US federal custody. The motion alleges that she suffered a mild heart attack while incarcerated on July 29, 2026.
Her attorneys argue that she is being deprived of necessary specialized cardiovascular treatment while in custody. On humanitarian grounds, the defense requested that she be permitted to reside under strict electronic monitoring at a private residence in Manhattan, New York, pending the commencement of her trial.
Flores and her husband, ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, were detained on January 3, 2026, during a dramatic operation by US military forces in the capital city of Caracas, after which they were flown directly to New York. They have remained in US federal custody since, with her legal team and family maintaining that her health has steadily declined during her detention.
