Toppled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro pleaded not guilty on Monday to narcotics charges after President Donald Trump’s stunning capture of him rattled world leaders and left officials in Caracas scrambling to regroup.
“I am innocent. I am not guilty. I am a decent man. I am still president of my country,” Maduro, 63, said through an interpreter, before being cut off by US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein in Manhattan federal court. Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores, also pleaded not guilty. The next court date was set for March 17.
Dozens of protesters, both pro- and anti-Maduro, gathered outside the courthouse before the half-hour hearing. Inside, as he stood shackled at the ankles and wearing orange and beige prison garb, Maduro declared he had been “kidnapped” and remained president of Venezuela. He listened to an interpreter through headphones as Hellerstein summarized the charges.