Maduro Heads Back to US Court, Fighting Charges as Venezuela Moves on Without Him

New York: Former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro returned to a New York courtroom on Thursday to try to get his drug trafficking indictment dismissed amid a geopolitical dispute over attorney fees.

Maduro’s lawyer claims the United States violated his constitutional rights by blocking the use of Venezuelan government funds to cover the ousted leader’s legal costs.

Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, will appear in court for the first time since a January hearing in which he protested his capture by US military forces and said: “I am not guilty. I am an honest man, the constitutional president of my country.”

Flores also pleaded not guilty.

Both remain in custody at a detention center in Brooklyn, and neither has requested bail. Judge Alvin Hellerstein has not yet set a trial date, but it could happen at trial.

Maduro, 63, and Flores, 69, continue to enjoy some support in Venezuela, with murals and billboards in the capital Caracas demanding their return.

But while Maduro’s ruling party remains in power, it has slowly faded from the government of Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodriguez.

Rodriguez replaced top officials, including Maduro’s loyal defense minister and attorney general, reorganized agencies, appointed ambassadors and dismantled the tenets of the self-declared socialist movement that had ruled Venezuela for more than two decades.

It even shook state television, which was dominated by Maduro’s hour-long evening programs.

Rodriguez prefers much shorter shows, without the musical numbers his predecessor often danced to.

Venezuela has also restored diplomatic relations with the United States, which cut ties with Maduro’s government in 2019 and recognized the head of the National Assembly, a member of the opposition, as the country’s legitimate leader.

The United States eased economic sanctions on Venezuela’s key oil industry and also sent a chargé d’affaires to Caracas.

But even that may not be enough to save Maduro and Flores from having to pay their own legal bills.

Maduro’s lawyer, Barry Pollack, said in a court filing last month that the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, which administers the sanctions, flipped on his decision to allow Venezuela to pay his legal fees.

He said the office approved the arrangement on Jan. 9 but rescinded it less than three hours later without explanation.

In his written statement to the court, Maduro argued that “he has the right to pay the cost of my legal defense to the Venezuelan government.”

The U.S. government authorized Maduro and Flores to use personal funds to pay their legal fees, but would allow them to do so from a fund controlled by a sanctioned government, prosecutors said.

Maduro stated in his statement that he could not meet his defense. In order to hire a lawyer at U.S. taxpayers’ expense, the lawyer must show that he or she is too poor to pay the fee.

Maduro and Flores were captured in a midnight raid on their homes in Caracas on January 3.

The 25-page indictment accused him and others of working with drug cartels and members of the military to facilitate the shipment of thousands of tons of cocaine to the United States.

Maduro and his wife are accused of ordering the kidnapping, beating and killing of people who owed them drugs or undermined their smuggling operations. The indictment stated that this included the murder of a drug lord in Caracas. They face life imprisonment if convicted.

Post-Maduro, daily life for most Venezuelans has remained the same.

While many public sector workers earn about $160 per month, the average private sector worker earns about $237. Last year, the annual inflation rate rose to 475 percent, according to Venezuela’s central bank, putting the cost of food and other basic needs beyond the reach of many.