Venezuela’s former President Nicolas Maduro pleads not responsible to drug prices; lawyer plans to problem legality of US army operation.
Revealed On 22 Jul 2026
A United States choose has set a trial date for former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his spouse Cilia Flores, each kidnapped from the South American nation throughout a US army assault in January 2026.
Decide Alvin Hellerstein set a trial date on Wednesday for June 1, 2027. Each Maduro and Flores have pleaded not responsible to drug trafficking prices whereas denying the fundamental legitimacy of the trial.
Neither spoke in the course of the 15-minute court docket listening to. The administration of US President Donald Trump has justified its army raid on Caracas in January and its abduction of the couple, extensively termed unlawful by worldwide authorized students, by alleging that Maduro was a part of a conspiracy to site visitors cocaine to the US in his capability as head of state.
“I’m not responsible. I’m a good man, the constitutional president of my nation,” Maduro stated in his arraignment in January.
Maduro’s lawyer, Barry Pollack, stated that he expects to problem the legality of the army raid to seize Maduro and convey him to the US for trial. He acknowledged on Wednesday that he would first problem the case on grounds of sovereign immunity, which, if profitable, would imply that Maduro not has to litigate the case.
Neither Maduro nor Flores has requested to be launched on bail, and Decide Hellerstein set subsequent yr’s trial date on the request of attorneys from either side.
Maduro faces 4 counts, together with “narco-terrorism” conspiracy and cocaine importation conspiracy, and will face life in jail if convicted. The Trump administration has usually used considerations about drug trafficking to say its affect in international locations throughout Latin America.
The Trump administration has referred to as the assault on Venezuela, which Venezuelan authorities say killed 83 folks, a “surgical legislation enforcement operation” in a prison case first put ahead six years in the past.
The Venezuelan presidency has since been stuffed by interim President Delcy Rodriguez, who has aligned the nation extra carefully with US pursuits.
