A demonstrator holds an anti-Maduro sign outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, where ousted Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro is being held on January 5, 2026.
Kena Betancur / AFP
The deposed Venezuelan leader denied the narco-terrorism charges in court, insisting he is still president of his country.
Ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro pleaded not guilty on Monday to drug trafficking and narco-terrorism charges, following his capture during a U.S. military operation in Caracas.
Appearing before U.S. district judge Alvin Hellerstein in a Manhattan federal court, 63-year-old Maduro declared his innocence, insisting he remained Venezuela’s leader. “I am innocent. I am not guilty. I am a decent man. I am still president of my country,” Maduro said through an interpreter before being cut off by the judge. He appeared in court wearing prison clothing and shackles, listening to the proceedings through headphones.
Maduro and his wife, first lady Cilia Flores, both entered not guilty pleas. The next court hearing is scheduled for March 17th.
U.S. prosecutors accuse Maduro of leading a large-scale cocaine-trafficking operation involving senior Venezuelan political and military officials, allegedly working with international drug cartels and U.S.-designated terrorist organisations. The charges include narco-terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States, and weapons offenses involving machine guns and destructive devices. If convicted, Maduro faces decades to life in prison on each count.
Maduro has long rejected the accusations, claiming they are politically motivated and aimed at seizing control of Venezuela’s oil wealth.
As Maduro stood trial in the United States, Venezuela’s National Assembly formally swore in Delcy Rodríguez as interim president. Rodríguez took the oath administered by her brother, Assembly Speaker Jorge Rodríguez. Also sworn in were 283 lawmakers elected in May.
Meanwhile, Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize Winner María Corina Machado welcomed the U.S. action against Maduro, praising it as a decisive moment for freedom. Speaking to Fox News Machado called the operation “a huge step for humanity, for freedom and human dignity.” She said she had not spoken to President Donald Trump since October 2025, when she last contacted him on the day she was awarded the Nobel Prize.
Machado, Maduro’s political opponent, left Venezuela last month to accept the award in Norway and has not yet returned. She plans to go back to Venezuela “as soon as possible.”
U.S. Republican lawmakers stressed that President Trump’s actions would not lead to prolonged military involvement.
“We do not have U.S. armed forces in Venezuela, and we are not occupying that country,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said.
Rebeka Kis is a fifth-year law student at the University of Pécs. Her main interests are politics and history, with experience in the EU’s day-to-day activities gained as an intern with the Foundation for a Civic Hungary at the European Parliament.
