Agency Report
Toppled Venezuelan President, Nicolas Maduro, pleaded not guilty to narcotics charges when he was arraigned at a New York federal court on Monday.
Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured by United States forces on January 3 and indicted on charges linking them to a narco-terrorism conspiracy.
His arraignment came as protesters both opposing and celebrating Maduro’s capture rallied outside a federal courthouse in New York on Monday.
The protesters were split, with one side flying flags and placards backing US President Donald Trump, while the other called for Maduro’s release.
Those supporting Maduro’s release argued against US intervention, while those on the other side expressed hope for Venezuela’s future without Maduro at the helm.
The demonstrators for and against were separated by a police barricade.
Some of those gathered were Venezuelan natives.
Maduro, 63, pleaded not guilty to four criminal counts: narco-terrorism, cocaine importation conspiracy, and possession of machine guns and destructive devices.
“I am innocent. I am not guilty. I am a decent man. I am still president of my country,” Maduro said through an interpreter.
Maduro is accused of overseeing a cocaine-trafficking network that partnered with violent groups, including Mexico’s Sinaloa and Zetas cartels, Colombian FARC rebels and Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang.
Maduro has long denied the allegations, saying they were a mask for imperialist designs on Venezuela’s rich oil reserves.
On her part, Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores, also pleaded not guilty at their first court appearance in New York on Monday.
The case was adjourned to March 17.
The judge began the hearing at 12:02pm (1702 GMT) by summarising the charges in the indictment.
Maduro, dressed in orange and beige prison garb, listened through headphones via an interpreter.
U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein asked Maduro to stand and confirm his identity, to which he replied in Spanish.
The judge informed the couple of their right to notify the Venezuelan consulate of their arrests.
Prosecutors said Maduro had been involved in drug trafficking from his time in Venezuela’s National Assembly in 2000 through his tenure as foreign minister and his subsequent election in 2013 as successor to late President Hugo Chavez.
Maduro’s lawyer, Barry Pollack, said he anticipated voluminous and complex litigation over what he described as his client’s “military abduction.”
He said Maduro was not seeking release at this time but may do so later.
Flores’s lawyer, Mark Donnelly, said she sustained significant injuries, including severe bruising to her ribs, and requested that she be provided X-rays and a physical evaluation.
Federal prosecutors in New York first indicted Maduro in 2020 as part of a long-running narcotics trafficking case against current and former Venezuelan officials and Colombian guerrillas.
An updated indictment made public on Saturday added new details and co-defendants, including Cilia Flores.
The U.S. has considered Maduro an illegitimate dictator since he declared victory in a 2018 election marred by allegations of widespread irregularities.
Experts in international law have questioned the legality of the raid, with some condemning Trump’s actions as a repudiation of a rules-based international order.
