Maduro: I’m innocent, I am still the president of Venezuela

“I am innocent, I am not guilty,” “I am still the president of my country,” declared Nicolas Maduro, who was kidnapped by the United States government during an attack on Venezuela, in his first appearance in a New York court.

Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, pleaded not guilty to federal charges of drug trafficking and weapons possession, just 48 hours after special military teams from the United States Army, in violation of Venezuelan sovereignty, forcibly removed them and transferred them to New York for prosecution.

Both appeared before Federal Judge Alvin Hellerstein in the federal court in lower Manhattan and, according to television footage, were transported under heavy security from the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn hours before the hearing.

The defense of the Venezuelan leader was taken over by Barry Pollack, a veteran trial lawyer who represented WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and helped negotiate the plea deal that led to his release in 2024.

In Flores’ case, her lawyer is Texas-based Mark Donnelly, according to court documents.

The hearing that just concluded marks the beginning of what will likely be months of legal proceedings leading up to a possible criminal trial.

Defense attorneys said their clients are currently seeking bail.

The constitutional president of the South American nation and his partner were kidnapped in what President Donald Trump described as a “full-scale attack on Venezuela and its leader” following an unprecedented campaign of pressure on Caracas in recent months.

Maduro faces four charges, including narcoterrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine, and weapons-related offenses.

The indictment against Maduro and Flores was made public on Saturday and includes four other co-defendants, among them Maduro’s son and Venezuela’s Interior Minister, Diosdado Cabello.