‘Not guilty’ plea for deposed Venezuelan leader Maduro: live updates

Deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro is expected to make his first appearance in a New York federal courthouse on Monday, days after he and his wife were captured by U.S. forces in a surprise attack on the oil-rich country.

Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, are set to be arraigned in Manhattan on a four-count indictment linking them to a 25-year narco-terrorism conspiracy. Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, President Donald Trump described the case against Maduro as “infallible.” Maduro has long denied any involvement in drug trafficking.

The surprise attack marked a significant escalation against the South American country after months of U.S. pressure, threats and oil tanker seizures. The military operation has drawn support from Trump’s allies but also bipartisan criticism as some lawmakers questioned the legality of an operation to seize the head of state of a foreign power.

Nicolás Maduro escorted to NYC court by officials, photos show

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro appears in Manhattan federal court on Jan. 5, 2026 to face narco-terrorism charges.

On Sunday, Trump floated possible military interventions in other countries, including Mexico, Colombia and Greenland. The Trump administration’s plans for Venezuela were unclear: After Maduro’s capture, President Trump said Washington will “run” the country, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested coercion would persuade Venezuela to act in the United States’ interests.

Developments:

∎ Trump, speaking on Air Force One, mused about intervening in other countries, saying Mexico needs to “get its act together” and telling reporters military action in Colombia sounded “good.” Trump also reiterated his claims that the U.S. “needs Greenland” and said the Cuban government is “ready to fall.”

∎ Cuban state media reported that 32 Cuban nationals providing security for Maduro were killed in the U.S. attack over the weekend. Neither the U.S. nor Venezuela has confirmed the death toll, but American officials said several U.S. soldiers were injured in the operation.

∎ While Trump says the U.S. is “in charge” of Venezuela, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said focus remains on using leverage to force the oil-rich country to act in line with American interests. So far, there are more questions than answers about how Venezuela will be governed after Maduro’s capture.

U.N. Security Council to hold emergency meeting after Venezuela attack

The United Nations Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Monday focused on the U.S. military operation in Venezuela.

The meeting, which is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. local time, was requested by Colombia and was backed by Russia and China, Reuters reported.

The 15-member council has met several times in recent months to discuss the escalating tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela. Monday’s meeting on “threats to international peace and security” will feature a statement from U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, according to a public schedule.

–Chris Cann

Maduro shares a jail with alleged CEO-killer Luigi Mangione

Maduro is currently being held in a Brooklyn jail where some of the world’s best-known defendants have been detained.

Maduro is behind bars at New York’s Metropolitan Detention Center ahead of his appearance in Manhattan federal court. The Brooklyn jail was once home to Jeffrey Epstein’s associate Ghislaine Maxwell and embattled music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, who is serving a prison sentence at Fort Dix in New Jersey.

More: Nicolás Maduro at Diddy’s former jail where Luigi Mangione held

Luigi Mangione, accused in the fatal December 2024 shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, is currently housed at the MDC awaiting trial. Convicted fraudster and FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was also once housed in the facility but has since been moved to a prison on Terminal Island in Los Angeles.

Other former detainees include rappers 6ix9ine and Fetty Wap as well as “pharma bro” Martin Shkreli, who was convicted in 2017 of securities fraud. Shkreli had his bail revoked and was sent to the Brooklyn facility after he allegedly made a threat to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, face a four-count indictment alleging they were at the center of a 25-year international narco-terrorism conspiracy.

–Jay Stahl

Bolton says ousting Maduro regime will be tougher than capturing leader

Law enforcement officials move captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores out of the helicopter on Jan. 5, 2026, ahead of their … Show more 

Adam Gray, REUTERS

Trump’s former national security adviser, John Bolton, said capturing Maduro was important, but ousting his entire regime will be more difficult.

Bolton, who has become a frequent Trump critic since serving in his first administration, said Venezuela’s alleged drug-smuggling regime has been in place for decades, since Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chavez. U.S. rivals such as Russia, China and Iran are Venezuela’s allies and wouldn’t walk away easily, Bolton said.

“Let’s be clear, there’s a big difference between getting Maduro and removing the regime,” Bolton told News Nation. “It would be a hollow victory indeed if we snatched Maduro but left his regime in place.”

– Bart Jansen

Maduro jury trial might not start until 2027: former prosecutor

After Maduro is arraigned on charges of narco-terrorism, cocaine importation conspiration and weapons counts, his defense lawyers could raise complex legal issues before reaching what Trump acknowledged could be a “slog” of a trial.

Maduro’s lawyers are expected to challenge the court’s jurisdiction over his case by arguing the military attack on Venezuela violated international law, according to Jimmy Gurulé, a former prosecutor who is now a law professor at Notre Dame.

The lawyers could also argue that he deserved immunity as a head of state, Gurulé said. The defense is also expected to make a broad request for evidence in the case, which could include classified information that the U.S. government could refuse to disclose.

“While justice will ultimately be served in the Maduro case, it won’t be anytime soon,” Gurulé said of a trial that might not start until 2027. “The list of pretrial issues goes on and on. Of course, the trial judge’s rulings on these pretrial motions will be appealed by the losing party.”

– Bart Jansen

Maduro arrives at federal courthouse ahead of arraignment

Maduro arrived at a federal courthouse in Manhattan on Monday for an arraignment on federal narco-terrorism charges.

Maduro was transported by helicopter to downtown Manhattan, where he will make his first appearance. The former president was being held at the notorious Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.

Denmark’s leader urges Trump to ‘stop the threats’ about Greenland

Denmark’s prime minister urged the White House to “stop the threats” about taking over Greenland, after President Donald Trump reiterated his wish to do so in a weekend interview with The Atlantic magazine.

Mette Frederiksen said on Jan. 4 that it “makes absolutely no sense to talk about the U.S. needing to take over Greenland. The U.S. has no right to annex any of the three countries in the Danish Kingdom.”

His comments came after Trump told The Atlantic, “We do need Greenland, absolutely. We need it for defense.”

– Kim Hjelmgaard

Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodríguez adopts softer tone

While speaking to reporters on Sunday night, Trump reiterated that the U.S. is “in charge” of Venezuela. The president added that his administration is “dealing with the people that just got sworn in,” in an apparent reference to Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, who has been named as acting president.

Trump told reporters that he has not spoken to Rodríguez yet, but others have, adding that he will speak to her “at the right time.” He later said the U.S. did not give anything to Rodríguez in exchange for cooperating but noted “she’s cooperating.”

Delcy Rodriguez: See Venezuela’s VP now leading country

Trump signaled Secretary of State Rubio and Defense Secretary Hegseth would be in charge alongside Venezuelan VP Delcy Rodriguez after Maduro was captured.

Rodríguez previously rejected Trump’s claims that she was willing to work with his administration, but adopted a softer tone in a statement on Sunday night. She called for a “balanced and respectful” relationship with the United States, adding that relations between the two countries should be based on “sovereign equality and non-interference.”

“We invite the U.S. government to collaborate with us on an agenda of cooperation oriented towards shared development within the framework of international law to strengthen lasting community coexistence,” Rodríguez said in a statement on Telegram.

Earlier that day, Trump had issued a warning against Rodríguez. “If she doesn’t do what’s right, she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro,” Trump told The Atlantic.

Trump says US needs ‘total access’ to Venezuela’s resources

When asked if he would demand free and fair elections in Venezuela, Trump said, “it depends.” Before elections can take place in the country, he said Venezuela needs to be “fixed.”

“We’re looking more at getting it fixed, getting it ready first, because it’s a mess. The country is a mess,” he said.

Trump also called on Rodríguez to provide the United States with “total access” to Venezuela’s resources. He noted that oil companies wanted to enter Venezuela and repair the country’s oil infrastructure.

Venezuela is recognized as having the world’s largest proven crude oil reserves, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Trump has said U.S. oil companies could start investing again in the region, a practice halted when Maduro’s predecessor, the late Hugo Chavez, expropriated the assets of foreign oil companies.

Trump threatens Colombia, says Cuba may fall on its own

In his comments on board Air Force One, Trump called Venezuela “very sick” and said the U.S. might launch a second military strike on the country if remaining members of Maduro’s administration do not cooperate with his efforts to get the country “fixed.”

His comments also raised the possibility of further U.S. military interventions in Latin America. Trump suggested that Colombia and Mexico could also face military action if they do not reduce the flow of illicit drugs to the U.S.

“Colombia is very sick, too, run by a sick man, who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States, and he’s not going to be doing it very long,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, in an apparent reference to Colombia’s president Gustavo Petro.

He also said that Cuba, a close ally of Venezuela, “looks like it’s ready to fall” on its own without U.S. military action. According to Trump, “a lot of Cubans were killed” during the operation to capture Maduro on Saturday.

Venezuela’s Defense Minister General Vladimir Padrino said on state television the U.S. attack killed soldiers, civilians and a “large part” of Maduro’s security detail “in cold blood.” The Cuban government said 32 of its citizens were killed during the raid.

Venezuelan houses destroyed in US attack

Some homes in the town of Catia La Mar near Venezuela’s capital Caracas were damaged or destroyed in the U.S. military operation, residents told Reuters on Jan. 4.

Jonatan Mallora, a 50-year-old motorcycle taxi driver, and his neighbor Angel Alvarez, a young street vendor, said they woke on Jan. 3 to explosions in their community in La Guaira state, about 19 miles north of Caracas.

“It’s sheer luck they didn’t kill my kids,” Mallora said amid the rubble of his apartment, where the roof was destroyed. He said he fled and escaped unharmed along with his 24-year-old daughter and 22-year-old son.

“I would never wish on anyone” the experience of an attack, he added. “We’re alive by a miracle.”

Venezuelan authorities have said the U.S. hit areas in La Guaira, Caracas and the neighboring states of Miranda and Aragua and that soldiers, civilians and much of Maduro’s security team were killed, though they have not offered specific figures on dead and injured.

What’s next in Venezuela?

The Trump administration’s capture of Maduro bore some familiar echoes to the 1989 U.S. invasion of Panama that ousted military strongman Manuel Noriega, marking the most direct U.S. intervention in Latin America since.

But experts say that despite some similarities, the two key moments in America’s long and checkered history of interventions differ in major ways that could make achieving U.S. goals more challenging this time, following a raid that has revived regional anxiety.

“This is not going to be so simple in Venezuela,” said Will Freeman, a Latin America fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. “One, it’s not even likely that we get to democracy. And two, many of the problems that were there with Maduro are going to remain.” Read more here.

Rubio, who dreamed of ousting Venezuela’s Maduro, takes charge

The capture of Maduro and his wife during a nighttime raid by U.S. troops on his compound in Caracas marked the realization of a longtime political goal for Trump. But it was a personal victory for a key member of Trump’s administration: Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

“Nicolás Maduro had multiple opportunities to avoid this,” Rubio said, standing alongside Trump at a post-raid news conference at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. “He was provided multiple, very, very, very generous offers, and chose instead to act like a wild man, chose to play around. And the result is what we saw tonight.”

Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, has been one of the primary architects of the Trump administration’s Venezuela policy, which shifted the United States away from decades-long diplomatic negotiations on human rights and other issues to the use of military force to remove a de facto leader from office. Read more here.

− Francesca Chambers and Michael Collins

Source:eu.usatoday.com/story/news/