{"id":176746,"date":"2026-03-27T01:37:44","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T01:37:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/176746\/"},"modified":"2026-03-27T01:37:44","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T01:37:44","slug":"woke-maduro-supporters-make-early-exit-ahead-of-dictators-ny-court-hearing-on-drug-charges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/176746\/","title":{"rendered":"Woke Maduro supporters make early exit ahead of dictator’s NY court hearing on drug charges"},"content":{"rendered":"

A small contingent of mostly white cause bandwagoners briefly showed up in alleged support of deposed Venezuelan dictator Nicol\u00e1s Maduro <\/a>ahead of his Manhattan court appearance Thursday morning \u2014 but vanished without a trace before the hearing even began.<\/p>\n

Law enforcement sources said many of the pro-Maduro protesters were familiar faces who make frequent cameos around the city to champion any leftist-oriented protests they can find.<\/p>\n

Two pens were set up close by outside the courthouse dividing those in favor of justice for the fallen strongman <\/a>and those seeking his release. The sides traded insults but never came to blows.<\/p>\n

Maduro supporters and protesters outside of Manhattan federal court before the former Venezuelan dictator\u2019s hearing on March 26, 2026. William Farrington for NY Post<\/p>\n

A demonstrator holding a sign calling for Nicolas Maduro to be freed from jail. William Farrington for NY Post<\/p>\n

The pro-Maduro crowd waved signs calling to \u201cFree President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro & Cilia Flores!\u201d and touting \u201cLong Live the Bolivarian Revolution!\u201d while chanting \u201cFree Maduro,\u201d \u201cFree Palestine\u201d and \u201cFree Iran,\u201d photos show.<\/p>\n

Another banner showed Maduro and Flores sharing an embrace above big block letters reading \u201cBring them back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Based on their signs and T-shirts, representatives were from a grab-bag of far-left groups like Freedom Road Socialist Organization, the Struggle for Socialism Party, the Workers World Party and the Peoples Power Assembly.<\/p>\n

Some held aloft a banner featuring Hugo Chavez \u2014 Venezuela\u2019s previous authoritarian dictator who died in 2013 and hand-picked Maduro to be his successor<\/a> \u2014 giving a salute in a military uniform.<\/p>\n

A sketch of Maduro getting escorted into the courtroom on March 26, 2026. AP<\/p>\n

A banner featuring Maduro, Flores and former Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

A motorcade bringing Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores to court from the Metropolitan Detention Center. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Many of those in the anti-Maduro group were Venezuelan born, some with family back in their native country who were breathing easier knowing Maduro\u2019s thuggish regime had come to an end.<\/p>\n

Erick Silva, a consultant from Venezuela who has lived in Manhattan for 12 years, organized the demonstration as part of Venezuelans in New York. He said the media deceptively creates the impression that the sides have equal skin in the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe media started covering people that don\u2019t speak Spanish, that don\u2019t have any clue where Venezuela is, neither do they have relatives that suffer back home,\u201d he told The Post.<\/p>\n

An effigy of Maduro in handcuffs seen outside of Manhattan federal court. William Farrington for NY Post<\/p>\n

\u201cI have family that continues to suffer under a repressive regime because you guys [the US] took only Alibaba but you left the 40 thieves that are still in power.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maduro and Flores are facing a range of federal charges including cocaine importation conspiracy and weapons offenses in connection with an alleged narco-terrorism scheme. They will remain in custody until their trial and could face life sentences.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A small contingent of mostly white cause bandwagoners briefly showed up in alleged support of deposed Venezuelan dictator…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":176747,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[2803,75,84,83,57,9,24,15862,63,4648,1211,42364,58,7318],"class_list":["post-176746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-manhattan","tag-court","tag-manhattan","tag-manhattan-headlines","tag-manhattan-news","tag-metro","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nicolas-maduro","tag-nyc","tag-protests","tag-socialism","tag-us-capture-of-nicolas-maduro","tag-us-news","tag-venezuela"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176746"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176746\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/176747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}