First Lady Flores of Venezuela seeks home detention as heart condition worsens

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In an application for pre-trial release, Ms Flores’s legal team asked the court to allow her to await trial under house arrest in Manhattan.

The filing described her declining health since the unprovoked US military attack on January 3, which killed 100 people and led to her and her husband being abducted from Caracas and imprisoned in New York.

“Prior to the United States’ military invasion of Venezuela, Ms Flores was physically healthy and took no ongoing medication, other than a monthly injection to help control her mitral valve prolapse,” the legal filing said.

“Now she is prescribed four medications, maintains nitroglycerin by her side in the event of a potential heart attack and grapples with the continued medical advice suggesting coronary exploration and surgery.”

After consulting outside medical experts, Ms Flores’s lawyers said they believed she may have suffered a minor heart attack on July 29 while in US custody.

If placed under house arrest, Ms Flores would be subject to round-the-clock armed monitoring, with visits restricted to people approved by the court and federal prosecutors. 

Judge Alvin K Hellerstein has yet to rule on the application.

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