Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro Says He's a 'Prisoner of War' as He Pleads Not Guilty in U.S. Court By Elizabeth Rosner, Meredith Kile, and Liam Quinn 13

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife were arraigned in a New York court on Monday, Jan. 5, following their capture and removal from his country by the U.S. military over the weekend.

Addressing Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein, Maduro, speaking in Spanish through an interpreter, said that he was a “prisoner of war” and that he is “not guilty” of the crimes he is charged with.

“I am the president of Venezuela,” Maduro said through an interpreter. “I consider myself a prisoner of war. I was captured at my home in Caracas, Venezuela.”

President Donald Trump confirmed the removal of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, as well as a “large-scale strike” on the capital city of Caracas, in a Truth Social post on Saturday, Jan. 3. He accused the Venezuelan president of narco-terrorism, and said that the U.S. plans to “take control” of the country in the interim.

Maduro, 63, was charged with four counts: narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices. On Monday, he entered his plea.

“I am not guilty,” he said. “I am a decent man. I am still the president of my country.” 

Flores, 69, was charged with cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices.

Flores entered a plea and briefly addressed the court in Spanish, also via an interpreter.

“Not guilty, completely innocent,” she said.

As he was escorted out of the courtroom, Maduro yelled out in Spanish, reiterating his claim that he is a “prisoner of war.”

In their indictment, federal prosecutors wrote, “For over 25 years, leaders of Venezuela have abused their positions of public trust and corrupted once-legitimate institutions to import tons of cocaine into the United States. [Maduro], the defendant, is at the forefront of that corruption and has partnered with his co-conspirators to use his illegally obtained authority and the institutions he corroded to transport thousands of tons of cocaine to the United States.”

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Following the operation, Trump spoke with reporters at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday, implying that the U.S. takeover of Venezuela’s oil, the largest proven reserves in the world, was a motivating factor in Maduro’s capture.

“We’re going to get the oil flowing the way it should be…we’re gonna run it properly,” he said. “We’re gonna make sure the people of Venezuela are taken care of.”

He continued, “We’re going to run the country right. It’s going to be run very judiciously, very fairly. And it’s gonna make a lot of money. You know they stole our oil. We built that whole industry and they just took it over like we were nothing. So we did something about it. We’re late, but we did something about it.”

He later added, “We’ll be selling large amounts of oil [from Venezuela] to other countries.”

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Trump Warns Venezuela’s Interim Leader She’ll Pay ‘Bigger’ Price Than Captured President Nicolás Maduro if She Doesn’t Comply with U.S.

U.S. Captures Venezuela’s President and First Lady in Overnight Attack, Trump Announces

On Jan. 4, Trump issued a warning to Venezuela’s interim leader, Delcy Rodríguez, urging her to cooperate with his plans and allow the U.S. “total access” to Venezuela’s natural reserves.

Speaking with The Atlantic, Trump said of Rodríguez, “If she doesn’t do what’s right, she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro.”

When asked to clarify, he said, “I just say that she will face a situation probably worse than Maduro. Because, you know, Maduro gave up immediately.”

The day prior, Trump confirmed that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had spoken to Rodríguez, and that she’d told him, “We’ll do whatever you need.”

“She, I think, was quite gracious, but she really doesn’t have a choice,” Trump said per the BBC.