“I Am Still President”: Captured Maduro’s Courtroom Outburst Cut Short in Historic Arraignment
NEW YORK — In an unprecedented scene in a Manhattan federal courtroom Monday, deposed Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro declared his innocence and his continued presidency before a judge swiftly silenced his protest. Maduro, captured by U.S. forces in a daring raid on his Caracas presidential palace, pleaded not guilty to major drug trafficking and weapons charges alongside his wife, former First Lady Cilia Flores, who was also arrested in the operation. Escorted by U.S. Marshals in tan jail clothes, Maduro opened his remarks with a casual “Feliz Año Nuevo” to the gallery, but the proceeding quickly turned contentious when he claimed, “I am here, kidnapped.”
Federal Judge Alvin Hellerstein immediately cut off Maduro’s statement, ruling the arraignment was not the proper venue to contest his capture. The former socialist leader, speaking through a translator, then entered a formal plea: “I am innocent. I am not guilty. I am a decent man. I am still president of my country.” His defense attorney, Barry Pollack, later denounced the operation as “an abduction” and signaled a fierce legal battle ahead, promising to file extensive motions. Flores, facing three related felony counts, similarly pleaded “not guilty, completely innocent” in a separate hearing minutes later. Both defendants waived their right to a speedy trial, with no request for bail—a prospect legal experts called nearly impossible.
The historic case, unfolding in the Southern District of New York, accuses Maduro of leading a narcoterrorism conspiracy that imported tons of cocaine into the United States, exploiting Venezuela’s institutions for over two decades. As the couple was led away, Maduro exchanged sharp words with a protester in the gallery—a Venezuelan exile who claimed to have been imprisoned under his regime—again asserting he was a “kidnapped president” and a “prisoner of war.” With their next court date set for March 17, the stage is now set for a monumental trial that intertwines international law, geopolitics, and the legacy of a regime the U.S. has spent years working to dismantle.
