Maduro pleads not responsible as Trump seizes management of Venezuela

[ad_1] Toppled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro pleaded not responsible on Monday to narcotics expenses after President Donald Trump’s beautiful seize of him rattled world leaders and left officers in Caracas scrambling to regroup.

"I'm harmless. I'm not responsible. I'm a good man. I'm nonetheless president of my nation," Maduro, 63, stated by way of an interpreter, earlier than being reduce off by US District Choose Alvin Hellerstein in Manhattan federal courtroom.

Maduro's spouse Cilia Flores additionally pleaded not responsible. The following courtroom date was set for March 17.

Dozens of protesters, each pro- and anti-Maduro, gathered outdoors the courthouse earlier than the half-hour listening to.

Hours later in Caracas, Maduro's vp, Delcy Rodriguez, was sworn in as Venezuela's interim president with phrases of assist for Maduro however no indication she would battle the US transfer.

A current US intelligence evaluation decided Rodriguez could be greatest positioned to steer a short lived authorities in Maduro's absence, discovering that opposition figures reminiscent of Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado or onetime presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez would battle to realize legitimacy, the Wall Road Journal reported, citing individuals aware of the labeled report.

Whereas many anti-Maduro activists had assumed this is able to be their second, Trump appeared to have sidelined the Venezuelan opposition for now. As an alternative, he has instructed Rodriguez was keen to work with Washington.

In Caracas, senior officers from Maduro's 13-year-old authorities stay accountable for the South American oil producer of 30 million individuals, alternating between spitting defiance and doable cooperation with the Trump administration.

The intelligence evaluation concluded that Rodriguez was among the many few Venezuelan leaders able to sustaining order, together with the inside and protection ministers, in a authorities dominated by ideological opponents of the US, the Wall Road Journal stated.

Rodriguez's brother, Jorge Rodriguez, was reappointed president of the overwhelmingly pro-Maduro Nationwide Meeting on Monday. He pledged "to make use of all procedures, boards and areas" to convey Maduro again.

Trump instructed NBC Information the US was not at conflict with Venezuela. Slightly, "we're at conflict with the those who promote medication," he stated.

The US would want to assist deal with the South American nation's issues earlier than any new elections, Trump stated, calling a 30-day timeline for a vote unrealistic.

"We have now to repair the nation first. You may’t have an election. There’s no approach the individuals might even vote," Trump instructed NBC.

To show this content material from YouTube, it's essential to allow commercial monitoring and viewers measurement.

Settle for Handle my selections One in all your browser extensions appears to be blocking the video participant from loading. To observe this content material, you could have to disable it on this website.

Strive once more

<img fetchpriority="low" src="https://s.france24.com/media/display/fd25ee60-ea5b-11f0-9e0b-005056bfb2b6/w:1280/p:16x9/EN-20260105-181806-182207-CS.jpg" srcset="https://s.france24.com/media/display/fd25ee60-ea5b-11f0-9e0b-005056bfb2b6/w:388/p:16x9/EN-20260105-181806-182207-CS.jpg 388w,https://s.france24.com/media/display/fd25ee60-ea5b-11f0-9e0b-005056bfb2b6/w:720/p:16x9/EN-20260105-181806-182207-CS.jpg 720w,https://s.france24.com/media/display/fd25ee60-ea5b-11f0-9e0b-005056bfb2b6/w:1024/p:16x9/EN-20260105-181806-182207-CS.jpg 1024w,https://s.france24.com/media/display/fd25ee60-ea5b-11f0-9e0b-005056bfb2b6/w:1280/p:16x9/EN-20260105-181806-182207-CS.jpg 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 639px) calc(100vw - 32px), (max-width: 1076px) calc(100vw - 44px), 850px" width="1280" height="720" alt="" loading="lazy" class="a-img "/> © France 24 Accusations of cocaine trafficking Maduro is accused of overseeing a cocaine-trafficking community that partnered with violent teams together with Mexico’s Sinaloa and Zetas cartels, Colombian FARC rebels and Venezuela's Tren de Aragua gang.

He faces 4 legal counts: narco-terrorism, cocaine importation conspiracy and possession of machine weapons and damaging gadgets.

Maduro has lengthy denied the allegations, saying they had been a masks for imperialist designs on Venezuela's wealthy oil reserves. Trump has made no secret of eager to share in Venezuela's oil riches. US oil corporations' shares jumped on Monday, fueled by the prospect of entry to these huge reserves.

Whereas world leaders and US politicians grappled with the extraordinary seizure of a head of state, the United Nations Safety Council debated the implications of the raid, which was condemned by Russia, China and leftist allies of Venezuela.

UN chief Antonio Guterres raised issues about instability in Venezuela and the legality of Trump's strike, probably the most dramatic US intervention in Latin America for the reason that 1989 Panama invasion. US Particular Forces swooped into Caracas by helicopter on Saturday, shattered Maduro's safety cordon and dragged him from the brink of a secure room.

To show this content material from YouTube, it's essential to allow commercial monitoring and viewers measurement.

Settle for Handle my selections One in all your browser extensions appears to be blocking the video participant from loading. To observe this content material, you could have to disable it on this website.

Strive once more

<img fetchpriority="low" src="https://s.france24.com/media/display/abb9aecc-ea88-11f0-85f9-005056bf30b7/w:1280/p:16x9/EN-20260105-233541-233727-CS.jpg" srcset="https://s.france24.com/media/display/abb9aecc-ea88-11f0-85f9-005056bf30b7/w:388/p:16x9/EN-20260105-233541-233727-CS.jpg 388w,https://s.france24.com/media/display/abb9aecc-ea88-11f0-85f9-005056bf30b7/w:720/p:16x9/EN-20260105-233541-233727-CS.jpg 720w,https://s.france24.com/media/display/abb9aecc-ea88-11f0-85f9-005056bf30b7/w:1024/p:16x9/EN-20260105-233541-233727-CS.jpg 1024w,https://s.france24.com/media/display/abb9aecc-ea88-11f0-85f9-005056bf30b7/w:1280/p:16x9/EN-20260105-233541-233727-CS.jpg 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 639px) calc(100vw - 32px), (max-width: 1076px) calc(100vw - 44px), 850px" width="1280" height="720" alt="" loading="lazy" class="a-img "/> © France 24 Maduro, spouse seem, plead not responsible On Monday morning, Maduro – his palms zip-tied – and his spouse had been escorted by armed guards in tactical gear from a Brooklyn detention heart to a helicopter sure for the Manhattan federal courtroom. Shackled on the ankles and carrying orange and beige jail garb, Maduro listened to an interpreter by way of headphones as Choose Hellerstein summarised the fees.

Hellerstein requested Maduro to face and ensure his id. He replied in Spanish.

The choose instructed the couple of their proper to tell the Venezuelan consulate of their arrests.

Prosecutors say Maduro has been concerned in drug trafficking from the time he started serving in Venezuela's Nationwide Meeting in 2000 to his tenure as overseas minister and subsequent 2013 election because the late President Hugo Chavez's successor.

To show this content material from YouTube, it's essential to allow commercial monitoring and viewers measurement.

Settle for Handle my selections One in all your browser extensions appears to be blocking the video participant from loading. To observe this content material, you could have to disable it on this website.

Strive once more

<img fetchpriority="low" src="https://s.france24.com/media/display/0799d6f4-ea7f-11f0-8186-005056a90284/w:1280/p:16x9/ANGL260105-2045-Live-CS2045.jpg" srcset="https://s.france24.com/media/display/0799d6f4-ea7f-11f0-8186-005056a90284/w:388/p:16x9/ANGL260105-2045-Live-CS2045.jpg 388w,https://s.france24.com/media/display/0799d6f4-ea7f-11f0-8186-005056a90284/w:720/p:16x9/ANGL260105-2045-Live-CS2045.jpg 720w,https://s.france24.com/media/display/0799d6f4-ea7f-11f0-8186-005056a90284/w:1024/p:16x9/ANGL260105-2045-Live-CS2045.jpg 1024w,https://s.france24.com/media/display/0799d6f4-ea7f-11f0-8186-005056a90284/w:1280/p:16x9/ANGL260105-2045-Live-CS2045.jpg 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 639px) calc(100vw - 32px), (max-width: 1076px) calc(100vw - 44px), 850px" width="1280" height="720" alt="" loading="lazy" class="a-img "/> © France 24 Maduro lawyer predicts authorized battle over 'navy abduction' Maduro lawyer Barry Pollack stated he anticipated voluminous and complicated litigation over what he known as his shopper's "navy abduction." He stated Maduro was not requesting his launch however could later.

Flores' lawyer, Mark Donnelly, stated she sustained important accidents together with extreme bruising on her ribs and requested that she be offered X-rays and a bodily analysis.

Federal prosecutors in New York first indicted Maduro in 2020 as a part of a long-running narcotics trafficking case in opposition to present and former Venezuelan officers and Colombian guerrillas. An up to date indictment made public on Saturday added some new particulars and co-defendants, together with Flores.

The US has thought-about Maduro an illegitimate dictator since he declared victory in a 2018 election marred by allegations of huge irregularities.

Specialists in worldwide regulation have questioned the legality of the raid, with some condemning Trump's actions as a repudiation of a rules-based worldwide order.

To show this content material from YouTube, it's essential to allow commercial monitoring and viewers measurement.

Settle for Handle my selections One in all your browser extensions appears to be blocking the video participant from loading. To observe this content material, you could have to disable it on this website.

Strive once more

<img fetchpriority="low" src="https://s.france24.com/media/display/01608c96-ea85-11f0-b403-005056a97e36/w:1280/p:16x9/EN-20260105-220156-220416-CS.jpg" srcset="https://s.france24.com/media/display/01608c96-ea85-11f0-b403-005056a97e36/w:388/p:16x9/EN-20260105-220156-220416-CS.jpg 388w,https://s.france24.com/media/display/01608c96-ea85-11f0-b403-005056a97e36/w:720/p:16x9/EN-20260105-220156-220416-CS.jpg 720w,https://s.france24.com/media/display/01608c96-ea85-11f0-b403-005056a97e36/w:1024/p:16x9/EN-20260105-220156-220416-CS.jpg 1024w,https://s.france24.com/media/display/01608c96-ea85-11f0-b403-005056a97e36/w:1280/p:16x9/EN-20260105-220156-220416-CS.jpg 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 639px) calc(100vw - 32px), (max-width: 1076px) calc(100vw - 44px), 850px" width="1280" height="720" alt="" loading="lazy" class="a-img "/> © France 24 Trump asserts oil aspirations American oil corporations will return to Venezuela and rebuild the sector's infrastructure, Trump instructed reporters on Air Drive One on Sunday.

"We're taking again what they stole," Trump stated. "We're in cost."

Trump stated then that the administration had tipped off US oil corporations concerning the operation, however within the NBC interview he stated: "The oil corporations had been completely conscious that we had been fascinated by doing one thing. However we didn’t inform them we had been going to do it."

He added that the US could subsidize the rebuilding of the nation's oil infrastructure by US majors, a undertaking he stated may very well be accomplished in lower than 18 months.

CBS Information, citing two unnamed sources, stated representatives of oil majors Exxon Mobil, ConocoPhillips and Chevron Corp would meet with Power Secretary Chris Wright on Thursday.