Cilia Flores is seriously ill, and imprisoned thousands of miles from her home in Venezuela. Her lawyers say she may have already suffered a minor heart attack and warn another cardiac event could be life-threatening.
She has not been convicted of a crime. Judge Hellerstein can grant her home detention so she can receive the medical care she needs. Cilita should not have to die in a U.S. prison.
Sign the petition and demand compassion before it’s too late:
To U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein:
Judge Hellerstein, this is an appeal to your conscience.
Cilia Flores is 69 years old. She has not been convicted of a crime. She has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial. Yet today, she sits in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, thousands of miles from her home and family in Venezuela, while suffering from a serious and deteriorating heart condition.
On July 29, she experienced severe chest pressure and difficulty breathing. Medical experts consulted by her defense believe she may have suffered a minor heart attack. She continues to experience dizziness, shortness of breath and extreme fatigue. She has lost more than 25 pounds. Doctors have recommended cardiac catheterization and warn that another episode could become life-threatening.
Her attorneys have proposed home detention under extraordinarily restrictive conditions, including GPS monitoring, 24-hour armed surveillance, surrender of her travel documents and a third-party custodian. She can appear before your court without being forced to risk her life inside a federal detention center.
The circumstances that brought Cilia Flores to this country are extraordinary. She was seized alongside Nicolás Maduro during a U.S. military operation in Venezuela and forcibly transported to the United States. Whatever the charges now before your court, being on the wrong side of Washington’s foreign policy should not make her health, dignity, or life expendable
The United States has inflicted enormous suffering across Latin America through intervention, coercion and sanctions. Your decision cannot undo that history. But you can decide what happens to the human being standing before your court today. You can decide that political conflict does not erase human dignity. You can decide that this is a moment for compassion.
And you can decide that a nearly 70-year-old woman should not have to suffer a catastrophic cardiac event before the justice system recognizes the seriousness of her condition.
Judge Hellerstein, we ask you to listen to your conscience.
Grant Cilia Flores pretrial release to home detention while she receives the medical care she needs.
Do not wait until it is too late.