Click to see full-size image. English: A photo released by the DEA shows captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro wearing a hoodie made by a Maine-based apparel company after his arrival in New York under U.S. custody.
Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife pleaded not guilty to drugs, weapons and narco-terrorism charges at a court in New York on January 5, two days after their abduction by United States special forces in an operation ordered by President Donald Trump.
“I am president of the republic of Venezuela, and I am here, kidnapped, since January 3, Saturday,” Maduro told the U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein at Manhattan federal court. “I was captured at my home in Caracas, Venezuela.”
Maduro, who entered the courtroom with his feet in shackles, was widely described by U.S. media as being defiant. Meanwhile, his wife, Cilia Flores, appeared to have injuries, which her lawyer, Mark Donnelly, said were sustained when the U.S. abducted the pair.
Hellerstein, who oversaw many cases including thousands of 9/11-related civil lawsuits, told Maduro and Flores that his duty is “to assure that this is a fair trial and fair proceedings.”
Asked by the judge to enter a plea, Maduro said, “I am innocent. I am not guilty. I am a decent man. I am still president of my country.”
Meanwhile, Flores introduced herself to the court by saying, “I am still first lady of the republic of Venezuela,” then stressed that she was “completely innocent”.
The couple’s defense lawyer Barry Pollack, known for representing WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, made no immediate application for bail, but said he would later file a motion alluding to the “military abduction” he said his client was subjected to.
On the same day in Caracas, Delcy Rodríguez was formally sworn in as Venezuela’s acting president. The oath of office was administered by her brother, National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez.
The acting president said she was taking the oath with a heavy heart for what she considered the “kidnapping” of Maduro and Flores.
“I come as the executive vice president of the constitutional president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro Moros, to take the oath of office.”
Notably, ambassadors of China, Russia and Iran, all key allies of Venezuela, were among the first dignitaries to congratulate Rodríguez when she was sworn in.
Around the same time, the government of Venezuela published the decree of the State of External Commotion, which grants broad powers to the presidency and orders security forces to capture “any person involved in the promotion or support” of U.S. operations. The document, dated January 3, is signed by Maduro himself.
“The national, state, and municipal police agencies must immediately undertake the search and capture throughout the national territory of any person involved in the promotion or support of the armed attack by the United States of America against the territory of the Republic … with a view to their prosecution,” states the text, endorsed by Rodríguez.
From his side, Trump said on January 5 the U.S. did not communicate with Rodríguez’s camp before the U.S. military operation to capture Maduro.
“No, that’s not the case,” Trump said in an interview with NBC News, reiterating that she has been cooperating with the U.S. in the aftermath.
Asked who was currently in charge of Venezuela, Trump said, “We’re dealing with the people. We’re dealing with the people that just got sworn in. And don’t ask me who’s in charge, because I’ll give you an answer, and it’ll be very controversial.” Pressed on what that meant, he added, “It means we’re in charge.”
Trump again suggested the U.S. could launch a second military operation into Venezuela if Rodríguez stops cooperating but said he doesn’t think it will be necessary. “We’re prepared to do it,” he said. “We anticipated doing it, actually.”
Trump said that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been speaking with Rodríguez in fluent Spanish on the phone and that their “relationship has been very strong.”
As of now, it appears that Rodríguez and the rest of Maduro’s allies are in control of the situation in Venezuela. The U.S. is clearly attempting to pressure them into cooperating, especially on the future of the country’s vast oil reserves, which are estimated to be the largest in the world.
Rodríguez seems open to some deal with the U.S. However, it is clear that the fate of Maduro will be a part of any such deal.
While Trump has so far shown great disdain towards the leader, he could agree to let him go, in a way or another, possibly for example to a third country, in exchange for a deal with Caracas.
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la forza americana e europea va fermata con le brutte altrimenti si riduce il campo della diplomazia e porta allo scontro globale.
quem com ferros mata, com ferros morre.
recent months saw a large u.s. military build up in the caribbean, with socom deploying assists in puerto rico and near trinidad and tobago…………………………… https://psee.io/8jqu9r
a spanish speaking man in a court being judged on bogus charges by white men, this shit pisses me off.
si apoyas a trump eres hijo de puta!
a day will come when god will punish mystery babylon by the hand of rus and china, in one day she ( the harlot) will burn. rev 18
spanish is a “white” language.
thinking that way is color blindness, because thinking in black and white is for sheeps.
by law you cannot enter a sovereign country illegally and commit crime by killing body guards and kidnap a president on sovereign soil without his will.then lay charges against a helpless asylum seeker whom you have kidnap to your comfort zone and country.
wat…just spontaneously get meduro to stop his defiant dancing(quite bad-zero rhythm considering he latino)😆🤣
by law the kidnap or abductor are guilty as charge.illegal entry on sovereign soil without head of state permission or pardon is serious crime.killing people by entry illegally bring in lethal weapons ansdgunships,jets on sovereign soil is highers crime threat and terrorism national and internationally.
the mafia in washington dc only becomes more brazen in actions. at least they can now identify exactly the machine guns the venezuelan population has supplied by their government.
why any suggestion of doubt that the abduction of the head of government and his wife was a kidnapping / abduction? those 32 cubans who died for protecting him were not in doubt.
what has chumpo actually achieved by his mafioso antics? probably a lot less than he thinks. global contempt and hatred for the united snakes and all amerikunt low life anywhere. a grisly farce of a kangaroo court show trial in sdny dragging the amerikunt judicial system through the mud. even the most servile amerikunt vassals know they are next on the hit list – greenland, canada, mexico. further adventures planned in iran/ syria/ yemen/ china/ nigeria.
venezuela may prove less compliant than he imagines. any amerikunt setting foot in venezuela would do well to make sure his life insurance is fully paid up. maybe chumpo will have to keep half the amerikunt navy off the coast of venezuela indefinitely. he may find himself deserted by his retarded half wit maga base at the coming election. there are no long term plans for dealing with venezuela – it’s all back of an envelope/ make it up as you go along.
the expected oil bonanza will fail to materialise. the oil industry has been run down by 25 years of sanctions and will require tens or hundreds of billions of investment over many years. amerikunt oil companies do not seem very enthusiastic. there are problems with heavy crude. all the amerikunts have to offer the rest of the world is blatant, undisguised, predatory 19th century imperialist resource extraction. this will blow up in chumpo’s face.
‘judge alvin hellerstein’ one may find also oversaw proceedings involving the families and relatives of 9/11 victims resulting in the marginalising and cessation of whatever evidence based claims they had on their family member’s outright murder.
“cilia flores, appeared to have injuries…”
these pigs tortures his wife to break him.
they are no human anymore, they truly deserves death and have to brought to justice: they need to be killed.