NYC protest demands ‘Free Cilia Flores,’ condemns Judge Hellerstein decision

New York, NY – On October 8, protesters gathered outside of the Southern District Court to demand the release of Cilia Flores. Chants of “Cilia, listen! The people are resisting!” rang throughout the courthouse plaza.

Participating organizations included Brooklyn Against War, Workers World Party, Code Pink, and Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO). The small but steadfast rally of around 30 people lasted from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m., closing with a press conference.

Briony Smith, an organizer with Brooklyn Against War and an Anti-War Action Network steering committee member, witnessed as the motion for Cilia Flores’ release to home detention was denied.

Smith stated, “Cilia Flores is facing immense gendered violence. What I witnessed inside the courtroom was a room full of men making medical decisions for a woman.”

Smith continued, “We heard in the arguments today that she has suffered a probable heart attack. Now the judge seems to be under the impression that a heart attack, a heart catheterization, and the procedures that will follow are something that can be recovered from in general population detention among 40 other women, when Cilia is getting three to hours of sleep.”

Tom Burke of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization was also in the courtroom Thursday morning. Burke stated, “Trump is trying to kill the first lady of Venezuela here. He doesn’t care about her life. He doesn’t care about President Maduro. Trump doesn’t care about the Venezuelan people! He just wants their oil. If you think you’re going to find justice in a U.S. federal courtroom, you better think again.”

Speakers at the press conference continued to emphasize the inability of the Trump administration to grant Flores a fair trial.

Not only was Cilia Flores’ motion to be released on house arrest denied, but U.S. prosecutors also brought forward new charges of “conspiracy to commit torture” against Flores and Maduro. The original indictment of narcoterrorism conspiracy, for which there is no evidence, was used by the U.S. government to justify the illegal kidnapping of Flores and Maduro on January 3.

The conspiracy to commit torture indictment alleged torture of U.S. citizens. Five of these citizens include oil executives who were arrested for corruption, and two of them were U.S. special forces members who attempted to raid and overthrow the Venezuelan government. They were all freed later in deals with the U.S.

Ignoring this important context, the court is content to paint Maduro and Flores as dictators who torture U.S. citizens, all while the U.S. is subjecting them to a notoriously inhumane prison and refusing medical treatment to Cilia Flores. It is the goal of the prosecution to obscure who Flores and Maduro really are – leaders who refuse to sell out the resources of their country to the United States.

Despite the second indictment and the outcome of the motion for house arrest, activists remain ready to take to the streets to defend Flores and Maduro, and plan to be at the Metropolitan Detention Center on November 3, for the tenth month in a row, to demand their release.

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