Deposed Maduro pleads not guilty after capture in shock US attack on Venezuela
The ousted Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro entered a not guilty plea to charges related to drugs, weaponry, and narco-terrorism on Monday, just two days following his apprehension by US special forces during an operation approved by Donald Trump that sent shock waves globally. The quick and formal nature of the arraignment hearing in federal court in Manhattan – lasting only about 30 minutes, where Maduro was simply asked to confirm his identity and acknowledge the four charges against him – masked the significant ramifications of the US intervention. As Maduro and his spouse, Cilia Flores, addressed the court in lower Manhattan, the UN Security Council convened an emergency meeting just a short distance away, where numerous nations denounced the US as committing a “crime of aggression,” and Secretary-General António Guterres suggested that the action was in violation of international law. Maduro, aged 63, claimed to federal judge Alvin Hellerstein that he remained “the president of my country,” was unlawfully “captured” at his residence in Caracas, and was “a prisoner of war.” “I am innocent. I am not guilty. I am a decent man,” Maduro asserted in Spanish while trying repeatedly to speak over the judge.
Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores were seen in handcuffs after arriving at a Manhattan helipad en route to a federal courthouse in Manhattan on Monday. Photograph: XNY/Star Max/GC Images. Upon his courtroom entry, shackled at his ankles but not at his wrists, he glanced towards the jury box. Before taking his seat, Maduro greeted those in the public gallery with “Happy new year!” in English. Dressed in orange slippers, a blue shirt layered over a neon orange shirt, and beige trousers, he scribbled notes on a legal pad throughout the hearing. Maduro faces four federal criminal charges in the US, including “narco-terrorism” conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, and possession of machine guns and destructive devices. Each charge carries a potential life sentence. He was initially indicted in 2020, alongside 14 associates, as part of an extensive drug-trafficking investigation focused on Venezuelan officials and Colombian insurgents. Defense attorney Barry Pollack did not immediately request bail but indicated he would later submit a motion regarding the “military abduction” that his client experienced. Flores, the first lady of Venezuela, was also apprehended during the early morning raid on Saturday, which resulted in at least 40 fatalities, including civilians and Venezuelan and Cuban security officers. Her attorney, Mark Donnelly, reported that she sustained “significant injuries during her abduction” and needed medical assessment for “severe bruising” on her ribs. Upon entering her own not guilty plea, Flores, who had large Band-Aids covering her temple and forehead, declared she was “completely innocent.” Maduro and Flores were moved to a helicopter for a short flight to Manhattan, then escorted by heavily armed law enforcement into an armored vehicle and transported to the courthouse, where opposing groups of Maduro’s supporters and adversaries clashed outside. The bizarre sight of the 63-year-old leader of a sovereign nation appearing in a US courtroom, partly shackled, wearing a blue shirt over a neon orange prison scrub and khaki pants, evoked memories of the 1991 trial of Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega and the 2006 public trial of Iraq’s leader Saddam Hussein. The criminal indictment revealed on Saturday by US Attorney General Pam Bondi mirrored Trump’s assertions that his unilateral military involvement in Venezuela was essential to halt the influx of drugs into the US. “Maduro and his co-conspirators have, for decades, partnered with some of the most violent and prolific drug traffickers and narco-terrorists in the world, and relied on corrupt officials throughout the region, to distribute tons of cocaine to the US,” the indictment claims. US military strikes on alleged “narco boats” in the months prior to Saturday’s raid in Venezuela have led to at least 110 casualties, prompting some legal experts to question whether the actions constituted war crimes. However, Trump has also rationalized Maduro’s capture as a means for the US to seize “stolen” oil from Venezuela, promising that the US would “run” Venezuela for the foreseeable future while American energy corporations take control of the nation’s abundant oil resources. In Venezuela, Maduro’s son Nicolás Maduro Guerra, an elected official, stated to the national assembly that the US had “kidnapped” his father.
Delcy Rodríguez is inaugurated as Venezuela’s interim president by the president of the national assembly, Jorge Rodriguez, in Caracas. Photograph: Marcelo Garcia/Miraflores Palace/Reuters. Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro’s deputy who was sworn in to take his place on Monday, seemed to shift from her initially confrontational stance in response to the attack, proposing to cooperate with the US, mere hours after Trump warned that she might “pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro” if she did not comply with his demands. Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel peace laureate María Corina Machado commented on the military operation during an interview with Fox News, asserting her intention to return home “as soon as possible.” Machado expressed that Rodríguez was “rejected” by the Venezuelan populace, and that voters stood with the opposition. “In free and fair elections, we will win by over 90 percent of the votes, I have no doubt about it,” Machado stated, condemning Rodriguez as “one of the main architects of torture, persecution, corruption, narcotrafficking.” Delcy Rodriguez is seen outside the national assembly with defense minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez, interior minister Diosdado Cabello, Nicolás Maduro Guerra, and national assembly president Jorge Rodriguez. Photograph: Marcelo Garcia/Miraflores Palace/Reuters. Machado – viewed as Maduro’s most formidable rival – departed Venezuela last month to journey to Norway to receive the Nobel prize and has yet to return. Trump on Saturday rejected the notion of collaborating with Machado, declaring: “She doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country.” Nonetheless, Machado praised the US actions as “a huge step for humanity, for freedom and human dignity.” Meanwhile, Trump’s actions have ignited global backlash and concerns that the bombings in Caracas – which he has threatened to repeat if Venezuela does not cooperate – might extend to other nations with which he is at odds, particularly Colombia, Cuba, and Iran. This could indicate a return to historical “naked imperialism” by the US in Latin America, noted Alan McPherson, a history professor at Temple University, in remarks to the Guardian. Tensions with Colombia escalated further on Monday when Colombian President Gustavo Petro stated his country would “take up arms” if Trump acted on his threats of military intervention there. At the emergency UN security council meeting on Monday, Guterres, in a statement read by a diplomat, expressed “deep concern regarding the possible intensification of instability [in Venezuela], the potential impact on the region, and the precedent it may create for international relations.” He added: “I remain deeply concerned that rules of international law have not been respected.”
Published: 2026-01-06 07:54:00
source: www.theguardian.com
