{"id":90054,"date":"2026-01-05T18:39:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T18:39:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/90054\/"},"modified":"2026-01-05T18:39:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T18:39:09","slug":"i-am-a-decent-man-i-was-kidnapped-nicolas-maduros-first-remarks-in-manhattan-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/90054\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I am a decent man, I was kidnapped\u2019; Nicolas Maduro’s first remarks in Manhattan court"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Nicolas Maduro, the captured Venezuelan <\/a>President, entered a plea of \u201cnot guilty\u201d to all four charges brought against him during a court appearance on Monday. The charges against him include conspiracy related to drug terrorism, conspiracy for the importation of cocaine, and possession of machine guns and explosive devices.<\/p>\n

\"Captured Captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is escorted, as he heads towards the Daniel Patrick Manhattan United States Courthouse for an initial appearance.(REUTERS) <\/p>\n

\u201cI am innocent. I am not guilty. I am a decent man,\u201d Maduro <\/a>stated to Judge Alvin Hellerstein during the court proceedings.<\/p>\n

Maduro informed New York<\/a> federal judge that it was the \u201cvery first time\u201d he had encountered the indictment and expressed a desire to \u201cread it personally.\u201d<\/p>\n

He then asserted to the judge that he had been \u201ckidnapped\u201d from his residence, Daily Mail reported.<\/p>\n

When Hellerstein requested him to identify himself, Maduro <\/a>replied that he is the president of Venezuela and stated that he was \u201ccaptured at my home in Caracas, Venezuela.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also Read: Who is Alvin Hellerstein? 92-year-old judge to preside over Nicolas Maduro case in Manhattan<\/a><\/p>\n

Maduros claim they got injuries during abduction<\/p>\n

When questioned about his ability to follow the court proceedings, Nicola Maduro <\/a>responded that he has comprehended it and he is also taking notes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would like to ask that my notes be respected and that I be allowed to keep them,\u201d he told the judge.<\/p>\n

Hellerstein then replied, \u201cI believe you are entitled to keep them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nicolas Maduro’s attorney informed the judge that there are certain \u201chealth and medical concerns\u201d for Maduro that will necessitate attention.<\/p>\n

A lawyer representing his wife, Cilia Flores<\/a>, also remarked, \u201cas you can seen,\u201d she suffered \u201csignificant injuries during her abduction.\u201d<\/p>\n

Flores also entered a plea of not guilty. She referred to herself as the “first lady of the Republic of Venezuela” and asserted that she is \u201cnot guilty, completely innocent\u201d.<\/p>\n

Attorneys representing Nicol\u00e1s Maduro and his spouse, Cilia Flores, stated that their clients will not pursue bail at this moment. The lawyers further stated that they will file an application at a future date.<\/p>\n

Next hearing on March 17<\/p>\n

The next hearing the case will take place on March 17.<\/p>\n

Before departing, Maduro reportedly shook hands with his lawyer and handed his notes to a US Marshalm Daily Mail reported.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nicolas Maduro, the captured Venezuelan President, entered a plea of \u201cnot guilty\u201d to all four charges brought against…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":90055,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[42804,42803,42805,75,84,83,9,24,15862,42802,63,42394],"class_list":{"0":"post-90054","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manhattan","8":"tag-cocaine-importation","9":"tag-drug-terrorism","10":"tag-machine-guns","11":"tag-manhattan","12":"tag-manhattan-headlines","13":"tag-manhattan-news","14":"tag-new-york","15":"tag-new-york-city","16":"tag-nicolas-maduro","17":"tag-not-guilty","18":"tag-nyc","19":"tag-venezuelan-president"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90054","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=90054"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90054\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}