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MANHATTAN (CN) — Deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro pleaded not guilty to federal drug and gun charges Monday, his first appearance in a New York City courtroom, after U.S. forces captured him during a military strike on the presidential palace in Caracas on Saturday.
“I am innocent, I am not guilty, I am a decent man,” Maduro said through a courtroom Spanish-language interpreter, entering pleas of not guilty to four federal criminal counts.
“I am still president of my country,” he said. “I am not guilty of anything that is mentioned here.”
“I am here kidnapped since Jan. 3, Saturday,” he said unprompted, in response to the judge’s request to identify himself at the beginning of the hearing.
Maduro waived a public reading of the indictment. “I would rather read it personally,” he said through the interpreter.
Maduro was represented by attorney Barry J. Pollack, a former federal prosecutor now of Harris St. Laurent & Wechsler who previously represented WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
Maduro, shackled at the feet but not handcuffed, thrice greeted the gallery with “Happy New Year” when he initially entered the 26th floor courtroom. He was flanked by his wife, whose subdued garb matched his own: prison-issue khaki pants and navy blue V-neck sweaters with orange T-shirts underneath.
His not guilty plea prompted an audible scoff from one begrudged member of the packed courtroom gallery.
The same man — a 33-year-old named Pedro Rojas — later got Maduro’s attention after the proceedings wrapped, shouting to him in Spanish that he was an illegitimate president.
Maduro responded that he was a “man of God” who was “kidnapped,” and courtroom deputies admonished Rojas.
U.S. prosecutors unsealed a superseding indictment against Maduro and his wife, accusing them of an international cocaine trafficking conspiracy that involved terrorist groups armed with machine guns.
“Nicolas Maduro Moros, the defendant, now sits atop a corrupt, illegitimate government, that for decades has leveraged government power to protect and promote illegal activity, including drug trafficking,” prosecutors say in the indictment. “That drug trafficking has enriched and entrenched Venezuela’s political and military elite."
Maduro’s wife Cilia Adela Flores De Maduro also pleaded “not guilty, completely innocent" Monday to the charges she faces.
Represented by Mark Donnelly from Parker Sanchez & Donnelly, Flores wore bandages on her face covering injuries her lawyer says she sustained during the capture and arrest by U.S. forces.
Maduro did not make a request for release on bail during the 30-minute hearing, reserving his right to formally apply for bail at the next hearing on March 17.
The case has been assigned to Senior U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, a Bill Clinton appointee who previously presided over a 2011 narco-trafficking case which prosecutors used to add Maduro and his wife as co-defendants via the superseding indictment unsealed Saturday.
The Southern District of New York initially announced charges against Maduro in 2020, when the office was headed by Trump-appointed U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman. Prosecutors then accused Maduro of conspiring with the Colombian guerrilla group FARC — the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.
Prosecutors accused Maduro and his wife of conspiring to carry out “massive-scale drug trafficking” operation that concentrated wealth within their family.
The United States claims Maduro’s involvement in the drug trafficking conspiracy goes back at least as far as 1999, when he was elected to the Constituent National Assembly of Venezuela, and escalated in the 2000s while he was in office as minister of foreign affairs.
“As Venezuela’s minister of Foreign Affairs, Maduro Moros provided Venezuelan diplomatic passports to drug traffickers and facilitated diplomatic cover for planes used by money launderers to repatriate drug proceeds from Mexico to Venezuela. As Venezuela’s president and now-de facto ruler, Maduro Moros allows cocaine-fueled corruption to flourish for his own benefit, for the benefit of members of his ruling regime, and for the benefit of his family members,” government lawyers wrote in the indictment.
President Donald Trump celebrated the arrest operation, dubbed “Operation Absolute Resolve,” over the weekend and told reporters American companies will take over oil operations in Venezuela.
“We’re gonna run the country,” Trump said at a news conference from Mar-a-Lago Saturday morning. “Until we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition.”
Maduro’s arrest and ouster has been celebrated by some Venezuelans but has also prompted accusations of international imperialism by the Trump administration.
Outside the courthouse Monday, some Venezuelan New Yorkers waved flags and sang in celebration of Maduro’s capture. One, who identified himself as Nolber, told Courthouse News he believed the leader’s arrest and prosecution would be good for “the future of Venezuela.”
Nolber was positive about Trump’s pledge to run the country until further notice. “I agree with that,” he said.
A small group of counterprotesters with anti-imperialism signs demonstrated nearby, condemning the international militarization of the U.S. government.
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