Two days after being dragged from his bed in Caracas by U.S. forces, Nicolás Maduro stood before a Manhattan federal judge Monday and pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking charges—while insisting he remains Venezuela’s legitimate president.
The deposed Venezuelan leader appeared in court alongside his wife, Cilia Flores, both facing charges of narco-terrorism conspiracy and cocaine importation that could land them in prison for life.
Inside the Courtroom
Maduro told Judge Alvin Hellerstein, “I am president of Venezuela,” as he entered his not guilty plea. The judge assured him he would receive “a fair trial and fair proceedings.”
Prosecutors accuse Maduro of running a 25-year narco-terrorism operation, using his government position to import tons of cocaine into the United States. The indictment claims he partnered with drug traffickers and narco-terrorist groups including the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.
Flores faces separate charges of accepting bribes to help drug traffickers, including allegedly taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in 2007 to broker meetings with Venezuela’s National Anti-Drug Office director.
Both are being held at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center. Maduro has retained Washington attorney Barry Pollack for his defense, while a Texas lawyer, Mark Donnelly, is representing Flores.
Protests Outside
Crowds gathered outside the Manhattan courthouse, divided into opposing camps. Some celebrated Maduro’s capture, waving Venezuelan flags and chanting “What do we want? Libertad!” One protester waved a flag reading “Trump for king.”
Others demanded Maduro’s release, holding banners reading “Free President Maduro” and calling the operation an illegal kidnapping.
Trump: “We’re in Charge”
President Donald Trump doubled down Sunday on his claim that the United States is now running Venezuela, though the situation on the ground tells a different story.
Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodríguez—whom Trump said would cooperate with the U.S. transition—has declared her loyalty to Maduro and called the operation “barbaric.” Her exact whereabouts remain unknown, with reports suggesting she may be in Russia.
Trump told reporters he hasn’t spoken to Rodríguez but demanded “total access” to Venezuela’s oil reserves. “We need total access,” he said, threatening that if she doesn’t cooperate, “she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro.”
International Backlash
The U.N. Security Council held an emergency meeting Monday at Colombia’s request to discuss the U.S. operation. U.S. Ambassador Mike Waltz defended it as a “surgical law enforcement operation facilitated by the U.S. military” against “narco-terrorist Nicolas Maduro.”
Russia condemned what it called an “act of armed aggression.” China’s President Xi Jinping criticized “unilateral hegemonic bullying” in his first comments since the raid.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro warned he would “take up arms” if the U.S. attempts similar action against Colombia, saying any strike would risk killing children and sparking a popular uprising.
Trump also claimed Cuba is “ready to fall” without Venezuelan oil support. “Cuba literally is ready to fall,” he said. “They got all of their income from Venezuela, from the Venezuelan oil. They’re not getting any of it.”
Cuba’s Ministry of the Interior confirmed 32 Cuban military and police officers died protecting Maduro during the operation.
What’s Next
Maduro’s case represents one of the rarest prosecutions of a sitting head of state in U.S. history, joining only Panama’s Manuel Noriega and Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi in that category.
The charges carry potential life sentences. Other Venezuelan officials named in the indictment—including Maduro’s son, Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, and Tren de Aragua gang leader Hector Guerrero Flores—remain at large in Venezuela.
Meanwhile, Venezuela’s political future hangs in the balance, with no clear government, international condemnation mounting, and Trump’s promise to “run” the country facing resistance both inside Venezuela and around the world.
