Inside Maduro

Under heavy guard, former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were flown from a federal jail in Brooklyn to Manhattan on Monday morning to make their first court appearance since he was captured by US forces over the weekend.

Surrounded by Drug Enforcement Administration agents, a shackled Maduro was dragged from the helicopter to an armored vehicle and then driven to a federal courthouse, where he was met by the New York City Police Department and protesters; On one side of the street were those who applauded Maduro’s fall, and on the other were those who opposed his capture and detention.

Inside the courtroom, Maduro, dressed in a prison jumpsuit, was initially defiant and declared through a translator that he is a “decent man,” innocent of all charges.

“I am still president of my country,” he said. Meanwhile, in Caracas, Maduro’s vice president and longtime confidant Delcy Rodriguez sworn in as interim president.

Both Maduro and his wife pleaded not guilty.

At one point, it seemed like Maduro was trying to be grandiloquent, but U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein cut him off, as he would with anyone, saying he just needed to know Maduro’s identity and whether he understood his rights and the charges against him.

Ripe faces four charges of narcoterrorismconcert to import cocaine and crimes related to weapons. He was charged during President Trump’s first term in 2020. In a superseding indictment unsealed Saturday, federal prosecutors accused Maduro, his wife, son and others of conspiring with some of the world’s most violent and prolific drug traffickers and narcoterrorists to distribute tons of cocaine to the United States for decades.

Flores’ attorney, Mark Donnelly, said she may have suffered a rib injury during the Saturday morning operation to capture her and Maduro. He also appeared in court Monday with a bandage on his forehead. It is unclear whether the former Venezuelan president was injured, but his lawyer, Barry Pollack, told the court that he has health problems that will require attention. Hellerstein promised them both full medical care.

The next hearing is scheduled for March 17 and Maduro and his wife have waived their right to a speedy trial, so the entire criminal process against them could turn into a long ordeal.