Toppled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro pleaded not guilty yesterday to charges of narco-terrorism after President Donald Trump’s stunning capture of him rattled world leaders and left officials in Caracas scrambling to respond.
Maduro, 63, pleaded not guilty in New York federal court 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 also pleaded not guilty. The next court date was set for March 17.
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.
While world leaders and US politicians grappled with the extraordinary seizure of a head of state, an emergency order in Venezuela, published in full yesterday, ordered police to search and capture anyone who supported Saturday’s US attack.
Also yesterday, the UN Security Council debated the implications of the raid, which was condemned by Russia, China and leftist allies of Venezuela.
UN Chief Antonio 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.
US Special Forces swooped into Caracas by helicopter on Saturday, shattered his security cordon and dragged him from the threshold of a safe room.
Yesterday 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 court.
The judge began the hearing at 12.02pm (1702 GMT) in Manhattan federal court by summarising the charges in the indictment.
Maduro, in orange and beige prison garb, 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 Chavez’s successor.
Federal prosecutors in New York first indicted him in 2020 as part of a long-running narcotics trafficking case against current and former Venezuelan officials and Colombian guerillas.
An updated indictment made public on Saturday added some new details and co-defendants, including Cilia Flores.
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.
US oil companies’ shares jumped yesterday, fuelled by the prospect of access to Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.
Trump has made no secret of wanting to share in Venezuela’s oil riches.
American oil companies will return to Venezuela and rebuild the sector’s infrastructure, Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday.
“We’re taking back what they stole,” Trump said. “We’re in charge.”
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum yesterday reiterated Mexico’s opposition to Washington’s extradition of Venezuela’s president and to any kind of intervention in Mexico
An order to freeze financial assets held in Switzerland by ousted Maduro and associates affects 37 individuals, the Swiss government said yesterday.
A foreign ministry spokesperson said no details could be given on the total value of the assets frozen, following the order which is effective immediately
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