Nicolás Maduro pleaded not guilty in federal court to sweeping drug trafficking and narco-terrorism charges, defiantly claiming presidential authority as U.S. prosecutors move forward with an unprecedented case against a seized foreign leader.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Nicolás Maduro pleaded not guilty Monday to federal drug trafficking and weapons charges in a Manhattan courtroom, forcefully protesting his capture and declaring himself “the president of my country” during his first appearance since U.S. forces seized him and his wife in a covert military operation.
“I was captured,” Maduro said in Spanish, according to a courtroom translation, before the presiding judge cut him off. When formally asked for his plea, Maduro responded, “I’m innocent. I am not guilty. I am a decent man, the president of my country.”
The brief but consequential arraignment marked the opening phase of what U.S. officials describe as one of the most significant criminal prosecutions of a foreign leader in decades. Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were brought into court just before noon, wearing jail uniforms and headsets to follow the English-language proceedings translated into Spanish.
The couple had been transported under heavy guard early Monday from a Brooklyn detention facility. According to law enforcement officials, Maduro was moved by motorcade to a nearby athletic field shortly after 7 a.m., flown by helicopter across New York Harbor, and then transferred to an armored vehicle that entered the courthouse complex through a secured garage.
Outside the courthouse, police separated a small group of protesters opposing the U.S. action from a larger group of demonstrators supporting the intervention. At one point, a man pulled a Venezuelan flag away from those protesting Maduro’s removal.
As a defendant in the U.S. criminal justice system, Maduro is entitled to the same constitutional rights as any accused person, including a jury trial. His case, however, is nearly unprecedented. His attorneys are expected to argue that he is immune from prosecution as a sitting head of state, though the United States does not recognize him as Venezuela’s legitimate president following a disputed 2024 reelection.
A similar argument failed in 1990 when former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega was captured by U.S. forces and prosecuted in federal court.
Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, demanded that the United States return Maduro, while also striking a more conciliatory tone in a social media message late Sunday that invited cooperation with President Donald Trump and called for “respectful relations” with Washington.
Before his capture, Maduro and his allies repeatedly accused the United States of targeting him to gain control of Venezuela’s vast oil and mineral reserves.
Trump has said the United States will temporarily “run” Venezuela following Maduro’s removal, though Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday that Washington does not intend to govern the country’s day-to-day affairs beyond enforcing an existing oil quarantine.
Trump, speaking aboard Air Force One, suggested that the operation could signal broader U.S. ambitions in the Western Hemisphere. He criticized Colombian President Gustavo Petro, accusing him of enabling cocaine production and warning that such activity would not continue. Trump also demanded that Rodríguez grant “total access” to Venezuela or face consequences.
Oil prices rose more than 1 percent Monday morning to around $58 per barrel amid uncertainty over how quickly Venezuela’s energy sector could recover after years of underinvestment and mismanagement.
A 25-page indictment unsealed Saturday accuses Maduro and his co-defendants of conspiring with drug cartels to ship thousands of tons of cocaine into the United States. If convicted, Maduro and Flores could face life sentences. They have been under U.S. sanctions for years, making it illegal for Americans to conduct financial transactions with them without Treasury Department authorization.
The indictment alleges coordination between Venezuelan officials and the Tren de Aragua criminal organization. However, a U.S. intelligence assessment published in April, based on analysis from all 18 U.S. intelligence agencies, concluded there was no coordination between the Venezuelan government and the gang.
Maduro, his wife, and their son—who remains at large—are charged alongside Venezuela’s interior and justice minister, a former holder of that office, and Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, an alleged Tren de Aragua leader who is wanted in a separate case.
Prosecutors allege that Maduro and Flores ordered kidnappings, beatings, and murders of individuals who owed drug money or threatened their trafficking operations, including the killing of a local drug boss in Caracas. Flores is also accused of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in 2007 to arrange meetings between a major drug trafficker and Venezuela’s national anti-drug agency, resulting in ongoing monthly payments, some of which allegedly went to her.
During the hearing, U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein interrupted Maduro as he attempted to assert his authority, telling him there would be “a time and place” for such arguments, according to reporting by NBC News and The New York Times.
Maduro was formally charged Saturday with narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, and weapons offenses, according to the indictment.
He is being represented by nationally recognized trial attorney Barry Pollack, who previously defended WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, according to court records. Flores is represented by former federal prosecutor Mark Donnelly, also listed in court filings.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said Saturday that Maduro and his wife will “soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts,” writing in a public statement that thanked President Trump and U.S. military forces for the operation that captured what she described as “two alleged international narco traffickers.”
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