Nicolas Maduro claims he has no money to fund his narco-terrorism defence
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has appeared for his latest court appearance.
The ousted leader appeared in prison jumpsuit at a New York courtroom as he seeks to have his drug trafficking indictment thrown out over a geopolitical dispute over legal fees.
The 6’3 former union leader, who ruled Venezuela with an iron grip for 12 years, looked powerless as he was led by the arms by federal agents away.
Thursday’s hearing is the first time Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, have been in court since January which he protested their capture by military forces and declared:’I am not guilty. I am a decent man, the constitutional president of my country’. Flores has also pleaded not guilty.
Maduro’s attorney is arguing that if the former Venezuelan president gets public defenders, that would sap legal resources that are meant for people who can’t afford their own attorneys.
Prosecutor Kyle Wirshba cast it as an issue of the U.S. government’s ability to use sanctions to advance national security and foreign policy interests.
But Judge Alvin Hellerstein pressed him on why that argument holds now that U.S. and Venezuelan relations have warmed somewhat. ‘We are doing business with Venezuela,’ he noted.
Wirshba responded that ‘simply because there are relations with another government’ doesn’t mean Washington can’t maintain its sanctions.
‘If the purpose of the sanctions is because the defendants are plundering the wealth of Venezuela, it would undermine the sanctions to allow them access to the same funds now to pay for their defence,’ the prosecutor told the judge.
He added that Maduro and Flores can use their own money for their defence.
Maduro has said he doesn’t have the money to do so. Prosecutors are still investigating whether this is true.
As he left the defence table, he told his lawyer, ‘Hasta mañana,’ which is Spanish for ‘See you tomorrow.’
Judge Alvin Hellerstein has yet to set a trial date, though that could happen at Thursday’s hearing.
Judge Hellerstein will rule at a later date on the funding issue. He will also set another hearing date.
Is Nicolas Maduro still president?
Yes, Maduro legally is still Venezuela’s president.
In the hours after the January 3 operation, the country’s high court declared his absence ‘temporary,’ effectively eliminating the need for a speedy election and keeping the protections the office grants him under international law.
The court ordered Delcy Rodríguez to take office for up to 90 days, with the possibility of extending that to six months if approved by the National Assembly.
The high court and the National Assembly are controlled by the ruling party, and Rodríguez’s brother presides over the National Assembly.
How was Maduro captured?
Maduro and his wife were in their home at the Fort Tiuana military installation in Caracas, Venezuela’s capital, ruling party leader Nahum Fernandez said.
He has accused Trump of ‘kidnapping’ Venezuela’s leader and first lady and said: ‘That’s where they bombed. And, there, they carried out what we could call a kidnapping of the president and the first lady of the country.’
Trump confirmed the Venezuelan leader and his wife were flown out of the country, which the US president added ‘was done in conjunction with US Law Enforcement’.
The operation was carried out by the US military’s elite special forces known as Delta Force, which has previously carried out some top-secret operations.
Those include the hunt for Bin Laden in 2001 following the 9/11 attacks in New York City, the Iraq hostage rescue in 2015 and the raid on ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in 2019.
Trump described Maduro’s capture as a ‘brilliant operation’ and told the New York Times in a phone interview that the capture was a result of ‘a lot of good planning and a lot of great, great troops and great people.’
So far, there has only been confirmation that the couple were flown out of Venezuela, as Maduro’s whereabouts have yet to be disclosed.