Venezuela’s deposed dictator Nicolás Maduro told a US judge he had been kidnapped when he and his wife appeared in a federal court in New York on Monday.
Mr Maduro and Cilia Flores pleaded not guilty to charges of narco-terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine into the US and related weapons charges.
The initial appearance in a Manhattan courtroom followed the couple’s dramatic seizure by US special forces from their military compound in Caracas on Saturday following a month-long stand-off with the US administration of Donald Trump.
At the beginning of the hearing Mr Maduro, describing himself as “the president of my country”, attempted to make a statement to the court about his detention.
“I am innocent. I am not guilty. I am a decent man. I am still president of my country,” he said.
He was cut off by Judge Alvin Hellerstein, who told him “there will be time and place to get into all of this”.
Mr Maduro’s lawyer, Barry Pollack, told the judge there are “questions about the legality of his military abduction” and said he could file motions about his client’s status as leader of a sovereign state.
The accused couple entered the courtroom in shackles and prison uniform. After about 40 minutes they were remanded into custody with the next hearing set for March 17th.
As they were being led away, a member of the public told Mr Maduro in Spanish he would pay for his crimes. He replied by saying he was a “prisoner of war”.
Mr Maduro is the first foreign head of state to appear in a US court on drugs charges since the former president of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernández, was convicted of cocaine trafficking in 2024 and sentenced to 45 years in prison. He received a full pardon from Mr Trump in December.
Earlier on Monday in Caracas, vice-president Delcy Rodríguez was formally sworn in as interim president due to Mr Maduro’s “enforced absence”.
[ Venezuela’s acting president strikes conciliatory tone with US after Trump warning ]
In a statement released beforehand she called on the US government to “collaborate with us on an agenda of co-operation oriented towards shared development within the framework of international law”.
Washington has said it will maintain an economic blockade of the country to force it into complying with its demands.
In comments to reporters on Sunday night the US president said of Ms Rodríguez: “If she doesn’t do what’s right she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro.”
Among the demands Mr Trump has made to the Chavista regime in Caracas is it must open up Venezuela’s oil industry to US companies.
The threat to Ms Rodríguez was just one of a series made by Mr Trump and his officials since Saturday’s attack on Venezuela. They have also made menacing statements targeting Cuba, Mexico, Colombia and the Danish territory of Greenland.
[ After US captures Nicolás Maduro, could Iran’s supreme leader be next? ]
Colombia’s president Gustavo Petro said on Monday he would “take up arms again” after reporters asked Mr Trump if the US military armada amassed in the Caribbean could strike Colombia next and he responded: “It sounds good to me.”
Responding on social media Mr Petro, a former leftist guerrilla, said he had removed several intelligence officers from their posts, accusing them of “giving false information against the state”.
He also implied US secretary of state Marco Rubio was being misled by Colombian politicians linked to cocaine traffickers who “want a rupture in relations between the US and Colombia so that cocaine trafficking can skyrocket worldwide”.