Ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has pleaded not guilty to charges of narco-terrorism after the United States’ capture of him rattled world leaders and left officials in Caracas scrambling to respond.
Maduro, 63, pleaded not guilty in New York federal court on Tuesday morning AEST to four criminal counts that include 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, before being cut off by US district judge Alvin Hellerstein.
Maduro’s wife Cilia Flores, who was captured alongside him, also pleaded not guilty. The next court date was set for 17 March.
Dozens of protesters, both pro- and anti-Maduro, gathered outside the courthouse before the half-hour hearing.
What is Nicolás Maduro accused of?
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.
Nicolás Maduro (left) and his wife Cilia Flores (second from right) have pleaded not guilty to their criminal charges in the US. Source: AAP / AP / Elizabeth Williams
While world leaders and US politicians grappled with the extraordinary seizure of a head of state, an emergency order in Venezuela, published in full on Monday, ordered police to search and capture anyone who supported Saturday’s US attack.
The UN Security Council also debated the implications of the raid — which has been condemned by Russia, China and leftist allies of Venezuela — on Monday.
UN chief António Guterres raised concerns about instability in Venezuela and the legality of Trump’s strike, the most dramatic US intervention in Latin America since the 1989 Panama invasion.
On Monday morning, Maduro — his hands zip-tied — and his wife Cilia Flores were escorted by armed guards in tactical gear from a Brooklyn detention centre to a helicopter bound for the Manhattan federal court.
Judge Hellerstein summarised the charges in the indictment. Maduro listened on headphones through an interpreter. Hellerstein asked Maduro to stand and confirm his identity. He replied in Spanish. The judge told the couple of their right to inform the Venezuelan consulate of their arrests.
Prosecutors say Maduro has been involved in drug trafficking from the time he began serving in Venezuela’s National Assembly in 2000 to his tenure as foreign minister and subsequent 2013 election as the late president Hugo Chávez’s successor.
Maduro’s lawyer said he anticipated voluminous and complex litigation over his client’s “military abduction”.
He said Maduro was not requesting his release but may do so at a later time.
Flores’s lawyer, Mark Donnelly, said she sustained significant injuries including severe bruising on her ribs and asked 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 some new details and co-defendants, including Flores.
The US has considered Maduro an illegitimate dictator since he declared victory in a 2018 election marred by allegations of massive 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.
In Caracas, senior officials from Maduro’s 13-year-old government remain in charge of the South American oil producer of 30 million people, first spitting defiance, then pivoting to possible cooperation with the Trump administration.
US oil companies’ shares jumped on Monday, fueled by the prospect of access to Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.
Venezuela has the world’s largest reserves — about 303 billion barrels — but the sector has long been in decline from mismanagement, under-investment and US sanctions.
Acting president calls for ‘respectful’ relationship with US
“We invite the US government to work together on an agenda of cooperation,” Rodriguez said. in a statement
“Our peoples and our region deserve peace and dialogue, not war.”
Trump has threatened another strike if Venezuela does not cooperate with opening its oil industry and stopping drugs.
Trump has also threatened Colombia and Mexico, and said Cuba’s communist government “looks like it’s ready to fall”.
Just how the US would work with a post-Maduro government is unclear.
