Maduro says ‘I was captured’ as he pleads not guilty to drug trafficking charges

In this courtroom sketch, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, left, and his wife, Cilia Flores, second from right, appear in Manhattan federal court with their defense attorneys Mark Donnelly, second from left, and Andres Sanchez, Jan. 5, in New York. [AP/YONHAP]   A defiant Nicolas Maduro declared himself “the president of my country” as he protested his capture and pleaded not guilty Monday to federal drug trafficking charges that the Trump administration used to justify removing him from power in Venezuela.   “I was captured,” Maduro said in Spanish as translated by a courtroom interpreter before being cut off by the judge. Asked later for his plea to the charges, he stated, "I am innocent. I am not guilty. I am a decent man, the constitutional president of my country.”     Maduro’s court appearance in Manhattan, his first since he and his wife, Cilia Flores, were seized from their Caracas home Saturday in a stunning middle-of-the-night military operation, kicked off the U.S. government’s most consequential prosecution in decades of a foreign head of state. She also pleaded not guilty.   The criminal case is unfolding against a broader diplomatic backdrop of an audacious U.S.-engineered regime change that U.S. President Donald Trump has said will enable his administration to “run” the South American country.   Maduro was brought to court under heavy security early Monday — flown by helicopter to Manhattan from Brooklyn, where he is jailed, and then driven to the courthouse in an armored vehicle. He and Flores were led into court just before noon. Both were in leg shackles and jail-issued garb, and both put on headsets to hear the English-language proceeding as it was translated into Spanish.   As Maduro left the courtroom, a man in the audience denounced him as an “illegitimate” president.   As a criminal defendant in the U.S. legal system, Maduro will have the same rights as any other person charged with a crime in the country — including the right to a jury trial. But, given the circumstances of his arrest and the geopolitical stakes at play, he’ll also be nearly — but not quite — unique.   Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, center, reacts to a spectator after his arraignment in Manhattan federal court, Jan. 5, in New York. [AP/YONHAP]   That was made clear from the outset as Maduro, who took copious notes throughout the proceedings and wished Happy New Year to reporters as he entered the courtroom, repeatedly pressed his case that he had been unlawfully abducted.   “I am here kidnapped since Jan. 3, Saturday," Maduro said, standing and leaning his tall frame toward a tabletop microphone. “I was captured at my home in Caracas.”   U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, a jurist who was appointed to the federal bench in 1998 by Bill Clinton, interrupted him, saying: “There will be a time and place to go into all of this." Hellerstein added that Maduro’s lawyer could do so later.   “At this point in time, I only want to know one thing: Are you Nicolas Maduro Moros?”   “I am Nicolas Maduro Moros,” the defendant responded.   Maduro’s lawyer, Barry Pollack, said he expects to contest the legality of his “military abduction."   Pollack, a prominent Washington lawyer whose clients have included WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, said Maduro is “head of a sovereign state and is entitled to the privileges and immunities that go with that office.”   Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro appears in a photo that U.S. President Donald Trump posts on Truth Social on Jan. 3 after U.S. forces arrest Maduro in a military operation. [YONHAP]   Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega unsuccessfully tried the same immunity defense after the United States captured him in a similar military invasion in 1990. But the United States doesn’t recognize Maduro as Venezuela’s legitimate head of state — particularly after a much-disputed 2024 reelection.   Flores, who identified herself to the judge as “first lady of the Republic of Venezuela,” had bandages on her forehead and right temple. Her lawyer, Mark Donnelly, said she suffered “significant injuries” during her capture.   A 25-page indictment accuses Maduro and others of working with drug cartels to facilitate the shipment of thousands of tons of cocaine into the United States. They could face life in prison if convicted.   Among other things, the indictment accuses Maduro and his wife of ordering kidnappings, beatings and murders of those who owed them drug money or undermined their drug trafficking operation. That included the killing of a local drug boss in Caracas, the indictment said.   Outside the courthouse, police separated those protesting the U.S. military action from pro-intervention demonstrators. Inside the courtroom, as the proceeding wrapped up and Maduro prepared to leave, Pedro Rojas stood up and began speaking forcefully at him in Spanish.   Rojas said later that he had been imprisoned by the Venezuelan regime. As deputy U.S. marshals led Maduro from the courtroom, the deposed leader looked directly at the man and shot back in Spanish: “I am a kidnapped president. I am a prisoner of war.”   President Donald Trump listens during a news conference with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago, Dec. 29, 2025, in Palm Beach, Fl. [AP/YONHAP]   Trump said Saturday the United States would “run” Venezuela temporarily and reiterated Sunday night that “we’re in charge,” telling reporters “we’re going to run it, fix it.”   Secretary of State Marco Rubio tried to strike a more cautious tone, telling Sunday morning talk shows that the United States would not govern the country day-to-day, other than enforcing an existing "oil quarantine."   Before his capture, Maduro and his allies claimed U.S. hostility was motivated by lust for Venezuela’s rich oil and mineral resources.   Trump has suggested that removing Maduro would enable more oil to flow out of Venezuela, but oil prices rose 1.7% on Monday. There are uncertainties about how fast oil production can be ramped up in Venezuela after years of neglect, as well as questions about governance and oversight of the sector.   Venezuela’s new interim leader, Delcy Rodriguez, has demanded that the United States return Maduro, who long denied any involvement in drug trafficking — although late Sunday she struck a more conciliatory tone in a social media post, inviting collaboration with Trump and “respectful relations” with the United States.   Rodriguez was sworn in on Monday by her brother, National Assembly leader Jorge Rodriguez.   Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, left, and his son Nicolas Maduro Guerra, who is running to represent Caracas as a lawmaker for the National Assembly, attend a closing campaign rally for the regional election on May 25, 2025, in Caracas, Venezuela. [AP/YONHAP]   “I come with sorrow for the suffering inflicted upon the Venezuelan people following an illegitimate military aggression against our homeland,” she said with her right hand up. “I come with sorrow for the kidnapping of two heroes."   Maduro’s son and Venezuelan congressman Nicolas Maduro Guerra warned on Monday that his father’s capture could set a dangerous precedent globally and demanded that his parents be returned.   “If we normalize the kidnapping of a head of state, no country is safe. Today it’s Venezuela. Tomorrow, it could be any nation that refuses to submit. This is not a regional problem. It is a direct threat to global political stability,” Maduro Guerra said   Also Monday, the United Nations Security Council held an emergency meeting, with the top UN representative warning that America may have violated international law with its unilateral action. The world body also spotlighted the profound humanitarian needs in Venezuela. Its people have endured a yearslong, complex economic crisis. AP