Captured in Caracas by US military personnel, the Venezuelan president appeared in handcuffs at his first hearing to answer for narco-terrorism and drug trafficking
The president of , , declared himself innocent this Monday (5) before the Court of . In his first appearance in a New York court, Maduro rejected the criminal charges and claimed to be a government “prisoner of war.” “I am innocent. I am a decent man. I am a president,” the Venezuelan leader declared to the judge.
Maduro appeared in federal court in Manhattan handcuffed and accompanied by his wife, who also faces charges, according to the newspaper. The New York Times. The couple was captured by the US Army during a military operation carried out in the early hours of last Saturday (3), in Caracas. Since then, both have been detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn.
Accusations
The US Department of Justice formalized charges against Maduro for four main crimes:
– Narcoterrorism (and conspiracy to do so);
– Conspiracy to traffic cocaine;
– Possession of machine guns and explosive devices;
– Conspiracy to possess weapons for use in drug trafficking;
The US prosecutor’s thesis is that Maduro heads the “Cartel de los Soles”, a criminal organization that would use drug trafficking from South America to the USA as a tool to destabilize North American society. The White House classified the group as a terrorist organization, placing it in the crosshairs of its military apparatus.
Controversies over cartel command
Although the accusation points to Maduro as the hierarchical leader, experts on the subject dispute this view. Researchers point out that the “Cartel de los Soles” does not operate with a rigid hierarchy, but rather as a “network of networks” involving various military ranks and political sectors that profit from trafficking.
Despite the disagreement over his command position, there are indications that Maduro is one of the main beneficiaries of what experts call a “hybrid criminal governance” installed in Venezuela.
