NEW YORK — Former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, appeared in Manhattan federal court on January 5, pleading not guilty to charges of narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation, and weapons possession.
The arraignment followed their capture in a U.S. military raid on Caracas two days earlier, an operation that has sparked international controversy.Maduro, shackled and in prison garb, defiantly proclaimed his innocence through an interpreter: "I am still president of my country."Prosecutors allege the couple led a decades-long scheme, partnering with groups including Colombia's FARC guerrillas to traffic thousands of tons of cocaine into the United States, enriching themselves amid Venezuela's economic collapse.
The unsealed indictment details arms-for-drugs exchanges and use of state resources for protection and transit.U.S. officials described the January 3 raid — involving special forces and airstrikes — as a law enforcement action targeting a fugitive with a $50 million bounty.President Donald Trump hailed it as a success, while interim leader Delcy Rodríguez condemned it as an attack on sovereignty.Legal experts question the operation's international legality, drawing parallels to past interventions.Trial is set for March, with Maduro and Flores detained pending proceedings.
The case marks an unprecedented prosecution of a former head of state seized by U.S. forces.
