Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, appeared before a federal court in New York for the first time. At the initial hearing, the judge will formally read out the charges, confirm that the defendants are represented by counsel, and consider whether they should be released on bail. As CNN notes, the likelihood of such a motion being granted is extremely low.
The court will then set a preliminary schedule for the exchange of evidence and the filing of pretrial motions. According to Bloomberg’s assessment, the substantive proceedings are unlikely to begin before 2027.
US prosecutors accuse Maduro of “narco-terrorism,” cocaine trafficking, as well as the illegal possession of weapons and explosives “with the intent to harm the United States.”
Nicolas Maduro and Cilia Flores told the court they were completely innocent. “I am not guilty of anything mentioned here [in the indictment]. I am an honest man. I am still the president of my country,” Maduro said.