Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro pleads not guilty to US charges of narco-terrorism

By Jack Queen, Reuters Photo: XNY/Star Max Court hearing under way for Maduro, wife Protesters gather outside Manhattan courtroom UN Secretary-General questions legality of US raid US oil company shares soar Semblance of normal life begins to return in Venezuela Toppled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has pleaded not guilty to charges of narco-terrorism after President Donald Trump's stunning capture of him rattled world leaders and left officials in Caracas scrambling to respond. Maduro, 63, pleaded not guilty in New York federal court to four criminal counts on Tuesday (NZT) that include narco-terrorism, cocaine importation conspiracy and possession of machine guns and destructive The ousted leader - his hands zip-tied - and his wife Cilia Flores were transported under guard from a Brooklyn detention centre to a helicopter bound for the Manhattan court. The arraignment got under way as UN chief António Guterres raised concerns about instability in Venezuela and the legality of Trump's strike, the most dramatic US intervention in Latin America since the 1989 Panama invasion. Special Forces swooped into Caracas by helicopter on Saturday, shattered his security cordon and dragged him from the threshold of a safe room. Maduro is accused of overseeing a cocaine-trafficking network that partnered with violent groups including Mexico's Sinaloa and Zetas cartels, Colombian FARC rebels and Venezuela's Tren de Aragua gang. Photo: XNY/Star Max Maduro, 63, has long denied the allegations, saying they were a mask for imperialist designs on Venezuela's oil. Outside the courthouse, dozens of Maduro supporters outnumbered a handful of anti-Maduro Venezuelan immigrants. Amid global consternation at Trump's seizure of a foreign head of state - albeit an unpopular one - the UN Security Council debated its legality and fallout as Russia, China and Venezuela's leftist allies condemned the raid. While world leaders and American politicians wrestled with the extraordinary action, Venezuela issued an emergency order directing police to hunt down anyone who aided the US attack. Photo: BRYAN R. SMITH / AFP Maduro, wife face drug charges Maduro faces decades to life in prison on each count if convicted. He will be represented by Washington defense lawyer Barry Pollack, according to a court document. Pollack's past clients include WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who pleaded guilty to US charges in 2024 in a deal that allowed him to return to his native Australia. Prosecutors say Maduro has been involved in drug trafficking from the time he began serving in Venezuela's National Assembly in 2000 to his tenure as foreign minister and subsequent 2013 election as the late president Hugo Chavez's successor. Federal prosecutors in New York first indicted him in 2020 as part of a long-running narcotics trafficking case against current and former Venezuelan officials and Colombian guerrillas. An updated indictment made public on Saturday added some new details and co-defendants, including Cilia Flores. The US has considered Maduro an illegitimate dictator since he declared victory in a 2018 election marred by allegations of massive irregularities. Experts in international law have questioned the legality of the raid, with some condemning Trump's actions as a repudiation of a rules-based international order. Photo: Miraflores Trump asserts oil aspirations In Caracas, senior officials from Maduro's 13-year-old government remain in charge of the South American oil producer of 30 million people, alternating between defiance and possible cooperation with the Trump administration. US oil companies' shares jumped on Monday, fuelled by the prospect of access to Venezuela's vast oil reserves. Trump has made no secret of wanting to share in Venezuela's oil riches. American oil companies will return to Venezuela and rebuild the sector's infrastructure, Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday. "We're taking back what they stole," Trump said. "We're in charge." Photo: AFP / JIM WATSON Venezuela has the world's largest reserves - about 303 billion barrels - but the sector has long been in decline from mismanagement, under-investment and US sanctions, averaging 1.1 million barrels per day output last year, a third of its 1970s heyday. After first denouncing Maduro's capture as a colonial oil-grab and kidnapping, Venezuela's acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, softened her stance on Sunday, saying it was a priority to have respectful relations with Washington. "We invite the US government to work together on an agenda of cooperation," Rodriguez said. "President Donald Trump, our peoples and our region deserve peace and dialogue, not war." The country's UN envoy, however, told the Security Council on Monday that the US armed attack had no legal justification. Trump has threatened another strike if Venezuela does not cooperate with opening its oil industry and stopping drugs. Trump also threatened Colombia...

Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro pleads not guilty to US charges of narco-terrorism

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