Maduro trial set for June 2027 in New York

Ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, are scheduled to stand trial in New York on June 1, 2027, on U.S. drug and weapons-related charges after their capture in a nighttime U.S. military raid in Caracas earlier this year.

U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein set the trial date Wednesday during a hearing in Manhattan and scheduled a pretrial hearing for Nov. 17 to consider motions from both sides. Maduro, 63, and Flores, 69, have pleaded not guilty. They have been held at a Brooklyn jail since U.S. forces seized them from their home in the Venezuelan capital on Jan. 3 and brought them to New York.

The Guardian reported that they face possible life prison sentences if a jury finds they were part of a conspiracy to send cocaine into the United States. U.S. prosecutors say Maduro conspired to move thousands of tons of cocaine into the country by working with Venezuelan law enforcement to assist drug traffickers.

Maduro has rejected the charges and challenged the legality of his capture. At his arraignment in January, he said in Spanish: “I am not guilty. I am a decent man, the constitutional president of my country.” He has described himself as a prisoner of war and called the operation that brought him to the United States a kidnapping.

Donald Trump’s administration has defended the raid as a “surgical law enforcement operation” tied to a criminal case first brought six years ago. Maduro’s lawyers have said they expect to challenge what they described as his “military abduction” and raise complex legal arguments before trial.

Barry Pollack, Maduro’s defense attorney, said Wednesday he would seek to dismiss the case on the grounds that Maduro is protected by sovereign immunity, a legal principle that can shield heads of state from prosecution. Pollack has signaled that the defense will argue Maduro should be immune as the head of a sovereign state.

Maduro appeared in court wearing a beige jail uniform and was escorted by U.S. marshals. He was not handcuffed, according to the BBC. Flores sat beside him at the defense table as the pair listened through translation headphones while their lawyers spoke with the judge.

The courtroom was crowded, with spectators lining up for hours to see Maduro in person. Before the hearing began, a court officer warned the public to stay seated and silent. “You can’t say anything to him,” the officer said, adding that anyone who violated courtroom rules “might have some legal issues of your own.”

As Maduro entered, some people in the gallery murmured or drew in breath. He nodded toward the public before taking his seat. When the hearing ended, he stood, faced the gallery and gave a single wave before being led back into custody.

Outside the courthouse, demonstrators offered sharply different reactions. Anti-war protesters condemned the U.S. operation and held signs reading “Free President Maduro.” One protester with a bullhorn called the proceeding a “sham trial.” A speaker with the Anti-War Action Network said, “The US is endeavouring to bring Venezuela, Latin America, and the Middle East under its thumb.”

Other Venezuelans supported the prosecution. Wilmer Contreras, 53, who moved to the United States about 30 years ago, wore a Venezuelan flag and called Maduro “a criminal.” He said he supported the Trump administration’s capture of Maduro. “What they did was something that we were expecting, and waiting for, for a long time,” Contreras told the BBC. “And when that happened, things changed in my country.”