Ousted Venezuelan President, Nicolás Maduro, appeared in a New York court on Monday, pleading not guilty to drug trafficking and other charges, two days after US forces carried out a dramatic raid on his Caracas residence.
“I’m innocent. I’m not guilty,” the 63-year-old told a federal judge in Manhattan.
Entering the courtroom with a soft smile, wearing an orange shirt and beige trousers, Maduro spoke in Spanish through an interpreter.
“I’m president of the Republic of Venezuela and I’m here kidnapped since January 3, Saturday,” he said. “I was captured at my home in Caracas, Venezuela.”
His wife, Cilia Flores, also pleaded not guilty. The judge ordered both to remain in custody and scheduled a new hearing for March 17.
The presidential couple were forcibly taken by US commandos early Saturday during airstrikes on the Venezuelan capital, supported by warplanes and a heavy naval presence.
In Caracas, thousands rallied in support of Maduro while his former deputy, Delcy Rodriguez, was sworn in as interim president.
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado condemned Rodriguez, declaring she was “rejected” by the Venezuelan people and labeling her “one of the main architects of torture, persecution, corruption, narcotrafficking.” Speaking from an undisclosed location to Fox News’ Sean Hannity, Machado added that she plans to return to Venezuela “as soon as possible” after leaving the country last month to accept her Nobel Peace Prize.
Following the raid, former US President Donald Trump stated that the United States was “in charge” in Venezuela and plans to take control of the country’s vast but struggling oil industry. Trump dismissed the idea of holding elections in Caracas anytime soon.
“We have to fix the country first. You can’t have an election. There’s no way the people could even vote,” he told NBC News.
US House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Trump ally, offered a different view, saying he believes elections “should happen in short order” in Venezuela.
Maduro, who assumed office in 2013 after the death of socialist leader Hugo Chavez, has been accused by the US and the EU of staying in power through election manipulation and the imprisonment of opponents, amid widespread corruption.
The current crisis under a quarter-century of leftist rule leaves Venezuela’s roughly 30 million citizens and the world’s largest proven oil reserves, in a state of uncertainty. Trump has expressed willingness to cooperate with Rodriguez and Maduro’s former officials, provided they comply with US demands regarding oil. Rodriguez has signaled readiness for “cooperation.”
Brian Naranjo, a former US diplomat in Venezuela expelled in 2018, warned that the country could deteriorate further. “There’s a very real possibility that things are going to get much, much worse in Venezuela before they get better,” he told AFP.
Naranjo also highlighted potential threats to Rodriguez’s authority, naming Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello and her brother, Jorge Rodriguez, president of Venezuela’s legislature.
“Delcy had better be sleeping with one eye open right now because right behind her are two men who would be more than happy to cut her throat and take control themselves,” he said.
Trump’s aggressive foreign policy stance extends beyond Venezuela. On Sunday, he claimed that communist Cuba was “ready to fall” and reiterated that Greenland, part of US ally Denmark, should come under US control.
Brian Finucane of the International Crisis Group said Trump “seems to be disregarding international law altogether” in Venezuela, noting that US domestic law may also have been violated.
Details of the US operation in Caracas are still emerging. Havana reported 32 Cubans killed during the attack, while US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed that nearly 200 personnel were involved, with some injuries but no deaths reported by US officials.
