Ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro will appear on Thursday in a New York court for the second time since his capture by US forces in an extraordinary nighttime raid.
Maduro, 63, and his wife Cilia Flores have been held in a Brooklyn jail for almost three months after American commandos seized the pair from their compound in Caracas in early January.
The stunning operation deposed the strongman who had led Venezuela since 2013 and has since forced the oil-rich country to largely bend to the will of US President Donald Trump.
Maduro has declared himself a “prisoner of war” and pleaded not guilty to four counts: conspiracy for “narco-terrorism,” conspiracy to import cocaine, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices.
Thursday’s hearing at 11:00 am (1500 GMT) is likely to see Maduro push for the dismissal of his case, as lawyers tussle over who will pay the former leader’s legal fees. Venezuela’s government is seeking to cover the costs, but because of Washington’s sanctions, his lawyer Barry Pollack must obtain a US licence that has not yet been issued.
Pollack argued in a court submission that the licence requirement violated Maduro’s constitutional right to legal representation and demanded the case be thrown out on procedural grounds.
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Deadly raid
Detained in Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, a federal prison known for unsanitary conditions, Maduro is reportedly alone in a cell with no access to the internet or newspapers. A source close to the Venezuelan government said the incarcerated Maduro reads the Bible and is referred to as “president” by some of his fellow detainees.
He is only allowed to communicate by phone with his family and lawyers for a maximum of 15 minutes per call, the source added.
“The lawyers told us he is strong. He said we must not be sad,” said his son, Nicolas Maduro Guerra, adding that his father told him: “We are fine, we are fighters.”
Maduro and his wife were forcibly taken by US commandos in the early hours of 3 January in airstrikes on the Venezuelan capital, backed by warplanes and a heavy naval deployment. At least 83 people died and more than 112 were injured in the assault, according to Venezuelan officials. No US service members were killed.
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US pressure
At his first US court appearance in January, Maduro struck a defiant tone as he identified himself as the president of Venezuela despite being captured.
The South American country is now led by Delcy Rodriguez, who had been Maduro’s vice president since 2018. Under US pressure, she is grappling with leading a country saddled with the world’s largest proven oil reserves but an economy in shambles.
Rodriguez has since enacted a historic amnesty law to free political prisoners jailed under Maduro and reformed oil and mining regulations in line with US demands for access to her country’s vast natural wealth. This month, the State Department said it was restoring diplomatic ties with Venezuela in a sign of thawing relations.
Security is expected to be heightened around the New York courthouse for Thursday’s hearing. Presiding over the case is Alvin Hellerstein, a 92-year-old judge credited with overseeing several high-profile trials during his decades on the bench.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
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