Ousted Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, made their first appearance in a federal court in Manhattan on Monday after being captured by U.S. forces during a military operation in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas. During the hearing, Maduro declared, “I am innocent.”
The couple, who are being held in federal custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, appeared before Judge Alvin Hellerstein. Maduro was brought into the courtroom in shackles and orange jail slippers and sat two seats away from his wife.
Maduro and Flores wore headphones to hear the court-provided interpreter.
As Maduro took his seat beside his defense attorney, Barry Pollack, he immediately began writing on a notepad. Flores sat next to her lawyer, Mark Donnelly.
Maduro then stood before the judge.
“Are you, sir, Nicolas Maduro Moros?” Judge Alvin Hellerstein asked.
Through the interpreter, Maduro declared, “I am the president of Venezuela.” He added, “I was captured at my home in Caracas, Venezuela,” but the judge interrupted, saying there would be time later to address his custody.
Maduro then confirmed his identity as stated by the judge. Hellerstein then turned to Maduro’s wife.
“I am Cilia Flores,” she said. “I am first lady of the Republic of Venezuela.”
Hellerstein interjected, saying, “The purpose today is just to ask you who you are.” The judge then explained her rights to remain silent and to be represented by an attorney.
“Yes I understand and I’ve heard it,” Flores said.
Judge Hellerstein read Maduro his standard legal rights.
Through an interpreter, Maduro said, “I did not know of these rights. Your Honor is informing me of them now.”
“How do you plead to the indictment?” the judge asked.
Maduro replied, “I am innocent. I am not guilty. I am a decent man. I am still president of my country.”
When asked to repeat his plea, he added through the interpreter, “I am innocent. I am not guilty of anything mentioned here.”
When questioned about the three counts in her own indictment, Flores responded, “Not guilty completely innocent.”
Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez has been sworn in as interim president to lead the country following what the Venezuelan Supreme Court described as Maduro’s “kidnapping.”
Rodríguez called for Maduro’s return and pledged to defend Venezuela against U.S. aggression.
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