Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro arrived this Monday morning (5) at a federal court in New York to participate in his first court hearing in the United States. He was taken to the location accompanied by his wife, Cilia Flores, after leaving the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC), where he had been detained since Saturday (3), when he was kidnapped in Caracas.
The hearing is scheduled for 2 p.m. (Brasilia time) and will be conducted by District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, a 92-year-old magistrate with a long career in the American justice system and experience in high-profile cases.
On Saturday, the U.S. Department of Justice announced a new formal indictment against Maduro, part of a criminal case that, according to the U.S. federal government, has been ongoing for about 15 years. The indictment maintains the same four charges previously filed in New York in 2020: narco-terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine, possession of machine guns, and conspiracy.
The case is occurring amidst strong international repercussions. Also on Monday, the UN Security Council is meeting to discuss the kidnapping of the Venezuelan president. In the political arena, the interim president of Venezuela stated that she intends to work “together” with the United States, while Donald Trump, the US president, suggested a second attack against Venezuela if the government “doesn’t behave.”
Source: brasil247.com