Caption: This courtroom sketch shows deposed president of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro, left, and his wife, Cilia Flores, attending their arraignment at Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse on January 5, 2026 in New York, with defense lawyers Barry Pollack (not picture) and Mark Donnelly, centre. AFP/Jane Rosenberg
NEW YORK – A defiant Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking and other charges in a New York court on Monday, two days after being snatched by US forces in a stunning raid on his home in Caracas.
Maduro, 63, told a federal judge in Manhattan “I’m innocent. I’m not guilty.”
Smiling as he entered the courtroom and wearing an orange shirt with beige trousers, Maduro spoke softly.
“I’m president of the Republic of Venezuela and I’m here kidnapped since January 3, Saturday,” Maduro told the court, speaking in Spanish through an interpreter. “I was captured at my home in Caracas, Venezuela.”
But the man who ruled his oil-rich country with an iron fist for more than 12 years got a sharp reminder of his fall when the judge told him to stick to simply stating his name.
Maduro’s wife Cilia Flores likewise pleaded not guilty. The judge ordered both to remain behind bars and set a new hearing date of March 17.
Thousands of people marched through Caracas in support of Maduro as his former deputy, Delcy Rodriguez, was sworn in as interim president.
But the Maduro era appears over.
The couple were snatched by US commandos in the early hours of Saturday in an assault on the Venezuelan capital backed by warplanes and a heavy naval deployment.
In a series of shock announcements over the weekend, Trump then declared that the United States was “in charge” and intends to take control of Venezuela’s huge but decrepit oil industry.
Amid international alarm, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told an emergency UN Security Council meeting that there should be “respect for the principles of sovereignty, political independence and territorial integrity.”
‘Access to oil’
Maduro became president in 2013, taking over from his equally hardline socialist predecessor Hugo Chavez.
The United States and European Union say he stayed in power by rigging elections and imprisoning opponents, while overseeing rampant corruption.
The crisis after a quarter century of leftist rule now leaves Venezuela’s approximately 30 million people facing uncertainty.
Trump has said he wants to work with Rodriguez and the rest of Maduro’s former team — provided that they submit to US demands on oil.
“We need total access. We need access to the oil and other things in their country that allow us to rebuild their country,” he said.
And after an initially hostile response, Rodriguez said she is ready for “cooperation.”
Trump has also made clear there is no appetite for helping opposition candidates previously seen as the rightful winners of rigged elections.
Venezuela has the world’s largest proven oil reserves. However the oil is difficult and expensive to produce and after years of international sanctions and mismanagement, the infrastructure is in poor shape.
Shares in US oil majors Chevron, ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips shares surged on Wall Street early Monday.
Cuba, Greenland next?
Trump, who has shocked many Americans with his unprecedented moves to accumulate domestic power, also now appears increasingly emboldened in foreign policy.
On Sunday, he said communist Cuba was “ready to fall” and he repeated that Greenland, which is part of US ally Denmark, should be controlled by the United States.
Although there are no known US troops in Venezuela now, the Trump administration says it retains powerful economic leverage through an oil blockade. Trump has also threatened additional military attacks.
A huge US naval presence, including an aircraft carrier, is deployed in the Caribbean.
Details of the US operation in Caracas were still emerging Monday, with Havana saying 32 Cubans were killed in the attack. No US service members were killed but some were wounded, according to US officials.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that nearly 200 personnel went into Caracas on the surprise raid. (AFP)
See links to AZP News coverage of US strikes in Venezuela:
Sobers: T&T Safe After US Strikes on Venezuela
Venezuelan Streets Empty after US Strike
Venezuela High Court: Delcy Temporarily assumes Presidency
Barbados PM calls for De-escalation of Conflict in Venezuela
US will ‘Run’ Venezuela Until Political Transition – Trump
Police on Heightened Alert after US takes Maduro
Photo of Maduro in Custody: Trump Releases on Truth Social
Machado: Hour of Freedom is here
Venezuela Defence Minister Denounces US Military Intervention
‘Like a Television Show’: Trump Revels in Maduro’s Capture
No más Maduro: Venezuelan President Captured as US Strikes Caracas
Kamla: T&T has Peaceful Relations with Venezuela
CARICOM Monitoring Venezuela Situation
PNM Committed to ‘Zone of Peace’
