Cilia Flores also pleaded not guilty.
MIAMI, United States. – The ousted Venezuelan ruler Nicolás Maduro pleaded not guilty this Monday before the Federal Court of the Southern District of New York, in Manhattan, after US forces captured him last Saturday in Venezuela and transferred him into custody to the United States.
During the hearing, Maduro stated before the judge: “I am innocent. I am not guilty. I am a decent man, the president of my country.”
The appearance, described by AP like a brief procedure that anticipates a prolonged legal battle, it took place around noon. Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, listened to the hearing with headphones for the translation from English to Spanish. Both were transferred from a federal prison in Brooklyn to a courthouse in Manhattan under armed escort.
Flores also pleaded not guilty, according to AP.
The charges against Maduro are four: narcoterrorism conspiracy, conspiracy to import cocaine, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices. The case is being handled by the Prosecutor’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
The accusation, according to Reutersmaintains that Maduro and other Venezuelan leaders “abused their positions of public trust” and corrupted institutions to “import tons of cocaine” into the United States. It also alleges that they provided “police cover and logistical support” to drug trafficking groups such as the Sinaloa Cartel and the Tren de Aragua gang, with benefits that, according to the Department of Justice, reached senior officials.
The process also opens a legal debate on whether Maduro can invoke immunity as head of state. AP noted that his lawyers will likely question the legality of the arrest and claim sovereign immunity, although he recalled the precedent of former Panamanian ruler Manuel Noriega, who unsuccessfully attempted a similar defense after his capture by US forces.
On the political level, the US operation has provoked regional reactions and also impacts Havana, one of Caracas’ main allies. The Cuban regime acknowledged that 32 of its security officers died during the United States military operation in Venezuela.
