Ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro pleaded not guilty on Monday to charges of narco-terrorism, days after President Donald Trump’s dramatic capture of him sent shockwaves through global capitals and left officials in Caracas scrambling to respond.
Maduro, 63, entered not-guilty pleas in a New York federal court to four criminal counts, including narco-terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine, and possession of machine guns and destructive devices.
Prosecutors accuse Maduro of overseeing a cocaine-trafficking network that allegedly collaborated with violent groups such as Mexico’s Sinaloa and Zetas cartels, Colombia’s FARC rebels, and Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang.
Maduro has long denied the allegations, saying they were a mask for imperialist designs on Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.
As world leaders and US lawmakers reacted to the unprecedented seizure of a sitting head of state, Venezuela issued an emergency order, published in full on Monday, directing police to search for and detain anyone who supported Saturday’s US operation.
The UN Security Council also met on Monday to debate the legality and implications of the raid. Russia, China and leftist allies of Venezuela condemned the action.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres voiced concern over instability in Venezuela and questioned the legality of Trump’s move, described as the most dramatic U.S. intervention in Latin America since the 1989 invasion of Panama. U.S. Special Forces carried out the operation in Caracas on Saturday, breaching Maduro’s security and detaining him during the raid.
Maduro, wife appear in New York court
On Monday morning, Maduro – his hands zip-tied – and his wife Cilia Flores were escorted by armed guards in tactical gear from a Brooklyn detention center to a helicopter bound for court.
Prosecutors say Maduro has been involved in drug trafficking from the time he began serving in Venezuela’s National Assembly in 2000 to his tenure as foreign minister and subsequent 2013 election as the late president Hugo Chavez’s successor.
Federal prosecutors in New York first indicted him in 2020 as part of a long-running narcotics trafficking case against current and former Venezuelan officials and Colombian guerrillas. An updated indictment made public on Saturday added some new details and co-defendants, including Cilia Flores.
The US has considered Maduro an illegitimate dictator since he declared victory in a 2018 election marred by allegations of massive irregularities.
Experts in international law have questioned the legality of the raid, with some condemning Trump’s actions as a repudiation of a rules-based international order.
Trump asserts oil aspirations
In Caracas, senior officials from Maduro’s 13-year-old government remain in charge of the South American oil producer of 30 million people, first spitting defiance then pivoting to possible cooperation with the Trump administration.
U.S. oil companies’ shares jumped on Monday, fueled by the prospect of access to Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.
Trump has made no secret of wanting to share in Venezuela’s oil riches.
American oil companies will return to Venezuela and rebuild the sector’s infrastructure, Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday.
“We’re taking back what they stole,” Trump said. “We’re in charge.”
Venezuela has the world’s largest reserves – about 303 billion barrels – but the sector has long been in decline from mismanagement, under-investment and U.S. sanctions, averaging 1.1 million bpd output last year, a third of its 1970s heyday.
Acting Venezuelan president urges cooperation
After first denouncing Maduro’s capture as a colonial oil-grab and “kidnapping,” Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, softened her stance on Sunday, saying it was a priority to have respectful relations with Washington.
“We invite the US government to work together on an agenda of cooperation,” Rodriguez said. “President Donald Trump, our peoples and our region deserve peace and dialogue, not war.”
Trump has threatened another strike if Venezuela does not cooperate with opening its oil industry and stopping drugs. Trump also threatened Colombia and Mexico on Sunday and said Cuba’s communist government “looks like it’s ready to fall”.
Just how the US would work with a post-Maduro government, full of sworn ideological enemies, is unclear. Trump appears to have sidelined for now the Venezuelan opposition, where many anti-Maduro activists had assumed this would be their moment.
Rodriguez, daughter of a leftist guerrilla who has been praised as a “tigress” by Maduro, is also known as a pragmatist with good connections in the private sector and a belief in economic orthodoxy.
Global consternation
Washington’s allies, most of whom did not recognize Maduro as president due to vote-rigging allegations, have been more muted, stressing the need for dialogue and adherence to law.
Trump’s raid has created a political storm in the US, with opposition Democrats saying they were misled. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was due to brief top lawmakers later on Monday.
While a handful of conservative figures have criticized the Venezuela operation as a betrayal of Trump’s “America First” pledge to avoid foreign entanglements, most supporters have largely praised it as a swift, painless win.
Inside Venezuela, Maduro opponents have kept celebrations on hold as his allies remain in power and there is no sign of the military turning against them, even though many suspect some insiders helped in Saturday’s operation.
With inputs from agencies
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