NEW YORK, Jan 6: Deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro on Monday pleaded not guilty in a U.S. federal court to sweeping drug trafficking and terrorism-related charges, insisting he was “kidnapped” and remains the legitimate president of Venezuela, even as his capture triggered global shock and a deepening international crisis.
Maduro, 63, was brought to the Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse in Manhattan following a dramatic U.S. military operation in Caracas over the weekend. Speaking through an interpreter, he told the court he was innocent of all charges and declared, “I’m still the President of my country,” according to U.S. media reports. His wife, Cilia Flores, also entered a not-guilty plea.
U.S. prosecutors have accused Maduro of overseeing an extensive cocaine-trafficking network allegedly linked to powerful criminal organisations, including Mexico’s Sinaloa and Zetas cartels, Colombia’s FARC rebels and Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang. The charges include narco-terrorism, conspiracy, drug trafficking, money laundering and weapons offences.
Maduro was captured in the early hours of January 3 during a surprise U.S. raid involving special forces, warplanes and a heavy naval deployment. According to accounts emerging from Caracas, U.S. commandos stormed the capital by helicopter, breached Maduro’s security cordon and seized him near a safe room inside a secured facility.
The unprecedented seizure of a sitting foreign leader has rattled world capitals and reignited debate over U.S. intervention in Latin America. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres raised concerns over regional instability and the legality of the operation, while Russia, China and several left-leaning Latin American governments condemned the action at an emergency U.N. Security Council session.
As international leaders and American politicians grappled with the fallout, Venezuelan authorities issued an emergency order directing police to hunt down anyone suspected of aiding the U.S. operation. In Havana, Cuban officials claimed that at least 32 Cubans were killed during the attack in Caracas. U.S. officials said no American service members were killed, though some were wounded. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said nearly 200 U.S. personnel took part in the raid.
Outside the Manhattan courthouse, dozens of Maduro supporters gathered to protest his detention, outnumbering a smaller group of anti-Maduro Venezuelan immigrants. Demonstrators denounced U.S. actions as illegal and demanded his release.
The capture of Maduro marks the most dramatic U.S. intervention in Latin America since the 1989 invasion of Panama and has plunged Venezuela into a new phase of political uncertainty, with the country’s future leadership, stability and international relations now hanging in the balance.
