Posted on 01/05/2026 10:35:20 AM PST by SeekAndFind
NEW YORK CITY—Captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro pleaded not guilty during a historic arraignment in Manhattan where he faces an indictment on various conspiracy charges, as well as the potential for decades in prison.
“I’m innocent. I am not guilty. I am a decent man, the president of my country,” Maduro said. The former dictator entered a Manhattan courtroom on Jan. 5 around 12:01 p.m. ET, and could be seen wearing his blue prison uniform. Both he and his wife wore headsets to hear translations of the proceedings.
Their appearance in a Manhattan courtroom on Jan. 5 represented his rapid descent from leading one of the largest oil-producing nations just days prior. Although he was indicted under the first Trump administration, he didn’t enter U.S. custody until Jan. 3 when the U.S. conducted a surprise strike on the Venezuelan capital of Caracas.
Shortly thereafter, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced a new indictment targeting both Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. “They will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts,” Bondi said in a post on social media.
The indictment names two other Venezuelan politicians: Minister of Interior Diosdado Cabello and a former governor, Ramón Rodríguez Chacín. It also names Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, whom the indictment describes as a leader of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.
“The defendants, together and with others, engaged in a relentless campaign of cocaine trafficking throughout the time period charged in this Superseding Indictment, resulting in the distribution of thousands of tons of cocaine to the United States,” the indictment reads.
They’re charged with narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess those items.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. This is a developing news story and will be updated.
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CNN: “Venezuelan father abducted and held in the United States.”
SOME CLARIFICATION:
HE WAS THE PRESIDENT OF A LARGE COUNTRY THAT PRODUCED SOME
OIL-—NOT NEAR WHAT IS AVAILABLE -—
BUT THEY “NATIONALIZED” AMERICAN OIL COMPANIES AND THEY LET THE EQUIPMENT TO TO HELL..
ANOTHER OF EXAMPLE OF “GIVE A MONKEY A TYPEWRITER & EXPECT A FABULOUS NOVEL.”
He’ll be home as Dictator within a week ,LOL
I’m surprised the judge didn’t summarily dismiss the case
The New York Post seems to quickly publish updates on Maduro.
Being far too gentle with Maduro. Deserves the same treatment and sentence given to Saddam Hussein.
I heard somewhere that the judge who was given this case has already presided over some cases involving Maduro’s ‘associates’.
Let’s see......
Will “Judge” Boasberg temporarily step down from the bench and be the “Public Defender” for Maduro?
Now he is a “New York Man” and the CLinton judge will order him released and rebuke Trump.
I find it difficult to believe that the only plan after capturing Maduro is to arrest him on federal criminal charges and give him all the judicial safeguards accorded to criminal defendants in the US. So he gets a public forum to spew defamatory propaganda about Trump and the US, becomes a martyr with fawning press coverage, and the whole thing turns into another piece of lawfare against Trump’s executive prerogatives. In the Southern District of New York no less?!
Please tell me Trump, Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth are smarter than that. He should have been shipped to Gitmo and held in a military facility as the head of state of a hostile power/known terrorist. If you are going to try him on federal criminal charges, at least charge him in a different venue where the judges and juries actually care what the law is.
I see a lot of MAGA/Trump folks celebrating this way too soon. Let’s hope they have a longer term plan.
The Venezuela coverage begins at 9:00 in . . .
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
https://youtu.be/18IT4V0295E&t=540
hmmm he sure got a lawyer quick.
What happens if they fail to get a conviction?
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