Maduro described himself as a prisoner of war and said he remains Venezuela’s president. The next hearing is scheduled for March.
A photo released by the DEA shows captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro on Saturday after his arrival in New York under U.S. custody. (Drug Enforcement Administration /Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain)
By Jessica Corbett
Common Dreams
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro called himself a “prisoner of war” while pleading not guilty to narco-terrorism charges in a U.S. court in New York City today, after the Trump administration abducted him and his wife in an overnight raid Saturday that killed dozens of people.
“I am the president of Venezuela, and I consider myself a prisoner of war. They captured me in my house in Caracas,” Maduro said in Spanish at the Daniel Patrick Moynihan U.S. Courthouse. “I am not guilty. I am a decent man. I remain the president of my country.”
After being seized by U.S. forces before dawn on Saturday, Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were moved to a Brooklyn jail, over the objections of New York City’s recently inaugurated mayor, Zohran Mamdani, who called President Donald Trump after the military operation.
The Associated Press reported on the couple’s transfer to the Manhattan courthouse early Monday:
“A motorcade carrying Maduro left jail around 7:15 am and made its way to a nearby athletic field, where Maduro slowly made his way to a waiting helicopter. The chopper flew across New York Harbor and landed at a Manhattan heliport, where Maduro, limping, was loaded into an armored vehicle.
A few minutes later, the law enforcement caravan was inside a garage at the courthouse complex, just around the corner from the one where Donald Trump was convicted in 2024 of falsifying business records. Across the street from the courthouse, the police separated a small but growing group of protesters from about a dozen pro-intervention demonstrators, including one man who pulled a Venezuelan flag away from those protesting the U.S. action.”
Maduro and Flores in 2019. (President.az, Wikimedia Commons/CC BY 4.0)
The 25-page U.S. indictment released Saturday claims that Maduro, who previously served in Venezuela’s National Assembly and as the South American country’s minister of foreign affairs,
“has partnered with his co-conspirators to use his illegally obtained authority and the institutions he corroded to transport thousands of tons of cocaine to the United States.”
Maduro “now sits atop a corrupt, illegitimate government that, for decades, has leveraged government power to protect and promote illegal activity, including drug trafficking,” the document continues. “That drug trafficking has enriched and entrenched Venezuela’s political and military elite.”
[Barry Pollack, a lawyer for Julian Assange, is representing Maduro, according to widespread news reports.]
Barry Pollack is an experienced lawyer who defended WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on espionage charges. He will represent Maduro in New York in the narco-terrorism case.#BarryPollack #Lawyer #NicolasMaduro https://t.co/uCNhobJ9FA
— News18 (@CNNnews18) January 5, 2026
Like her husband, Flores pleaded “not guilty, completely innocent,” during the Monday arraignment. According to CNN, reporters observed bandages on Flores’ head and her attorney, Mark Donnelly, told the presiding judge that she sustained “significant injuries during her abduction,” including possibly bruised or fractured ribs.
The presiding judge is Alvin Hellerstein, a 92-year-old appointed to the Southern District of New York by former President Bill Clinton. Al Jazeera noted that he “has overseen numerous high-profile cases in his career, including relating to the 9/11 attacks and the Sudanese genocide.”
“It’s my job to assure this is a fair trial,” said Hellerstein, who scheduled the next hearing for March 17.
The weekend abduction has sparked global protests, comparisons to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, demands for Trump’s impeachment, concerns about the involvement of American oil companies, and fears of the White House’s threats of more military action elsewhere.
Jessica Corbett is a staff writer for Common Dreams.
This article is from Common Dreams.
Views expressed in this article and may or may not reflect those of Consortium News.
“It’s my job to assure this is a fair trial,” said Hellerstein, who scheduled the next hearing for March 17.
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One has to wonder if journalists will be allowed access to interview Nicolas Maduro and Cilia Flores during the 10-week span from their January 3, 2026 kidnapping until the resumption of their trial on March 17.
Perhaps the intention is to drag out the legal process so the interested public is more likely to forget all about the kidnapping(s).
Under customary international law, sitting heads of state enjoy absolute immunity (ratione personae) from the criminal jurisdiction of foreign national courts (like those in the U.S.).
Should he file for a change of venue to the ICJ?
Ne’re know , They might give him a new toyota to mount his machine gum on the back ?
Maduro has certainly been transported into the centre of the vipers lair.
“Hellerstein was born in New York City on December 28, 1933, to Rose and Max Hellerstein, and is an Orthodox Jew.” [Wiki]
What is this aged dinosaur still doing in employment ?
A brief summary of his cases demonstrates where his loyalties lie.
Fair trial?
Where?
Forget it!