Ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores, pleaded not guilty Monday during their first appearance in a Manhattan federal court, two days after being seized in Caracas during a U.S. military operation.
During the arraignment, Maduro told Senior U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein, 92, that he was “captured,” adding that he is “a decent man” and “the president of my country.” Flores called herself the “first lady of the Republic of Venezuela” before entering her plea.
Maduro, 63, and Flores, 69, wearing tan jackets and trousers, were surrounded by armed officers as they were escorted by helicopter and driven from the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn hours ahead of the hearing. The federal government unsealed an indictment against the couple Saturday on drug-trafficking and weapons charges, including narco-terrorism, cocaine importation, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices.
Maduro is represented by Barry Pollack, who served as WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s lawyer and was central to negotiating the plea agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice for Assange’s federal charges under the Espionage Act. The charges were related to WikiLeaks’ publication of classified U.S. military and diplomatic documents.
Pollack said he intends to challenge the legality of Maduro’s arrest and rendition to the U.S.
On Saturday, President Donald Trump announced that the United States had launched a large-scale military strike in Venezuela, targeting military facilities and regime infrastructure around the capital city, Caracas. The mission was carried out by agents from the FBI’s hostage rescue team embedded with U.S. military special operators from Delta Force, a counterterrorism unit.
Maduro sustained a minor injury as his security team engaged with U.S. forces and he attempted to flee, two U.S. military sources with direct knowledge of the operation told MS NOW.
Flores’ attorneys, Mark Donnelly and Andrea Sanchez, said she sustained serious injuries during her arrest, including possible fractures on her ribs. She had bandages on her head during her court appearance.
After the FBI took custody of Maduro, he and Flores were held on the USS Iwo Jima before being flown to New York.
More than 70 people were killed in the operation, according to two Venezuelan government sources familiar with the aftermath of the strikes. The International Network of Venezuelan Doctors confirmed to MS NOW that it has documented 70 deaths of military members related to the operation, including members of the presidential guard. Additionally, the governments of Cuba and Venezuela have confirmed 32 Cuban nationals were killed in the attack.
Outside the downtown Manhattan courthouse Monday, police used barricades to separate dozens of protesters — some lauding the Maduro operation, some demanding the U.S. stay out of other countries’ affairs.
As the hearing wrapped up, a man in the courtroom stood up and forcefully began pointing and yelling at Maduro in Spanish. Maduro responded: “I am a kidnapped president. I am a prisoner of war.”
The next court date is set for March 17. Maduro and Flores are being held without bail.
Jordan Rubin contributed to this report.
