The families of five slain Venezuelan men are suing former President Nicolás Maduro in federal court for allegedly ordering their killings in violation of US law.
Maduro had the Venezuelan National Police — known as the Special Action Forces, or FAES — execute the young men between 2017 and 2021, the plaintiffs say. They are suing under the federal Torture Victim Protection Act for the torture they experienced “in connection with the execution of their family,” as well as for the five extrajudicial killings, said the complaint filed Tuesday in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
Maduro has been in federal custody since January and is being is held inpending trial on narcoterrorism charges.
The families allege that although the purported aim of the Venezuelan security force was to reduce drug trafficking and suppress gangs, Maduro used it “as a political instrument and mechanism of social control to violently suppress dissent, terrorize low-income neighborhoods, and eliminate political opposition.” They allege FAES is “widely considered a ‘death squad’ or ‘extermination group.’”
The anonymous plaintiffs describe horrifying scenes in which FAES officers stormed their way into their homes, forced their sons and brothers to their knees and murdered them. John Doe 4 and his second son, for example, “live today in persistent and significant fear for their lives” as they remain in Venezuela and continue to experience “serious security concerns” despite Maduro’s ouster, the complaint says.
They are suing in the US due to there being “no adequate alternative remedy available to Plaintiffs in Venezuela for the claims asserted here.”
The creators of FAES “remain in power today as high-ranking officials in Venezuela, and Plaintiffs face ongoing fear that their pursuit of local remedies would result in further reprisal against them,” the complaint says.
Maduro’s private counsel, Barry J. Pollack of Harris Trzaskoma LLP, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
McDermott Will & Schulte represents the plaintiffs.
The case is Doe v. Maduro Moros, E.D.N.Y., No. 1:26-cv-03924, complaint filed 6/30/26.