Deposed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is due to appear in a New York court on Wednesday, for what will be his third public appearance since his spectacular capture by the United States earlier this year in Caracas.
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Detained since January 3 in a Brooklyn prison, the former head of state must be taken to a Manhattan court, where he is being prosecuted for drug trafficking with his wife Cilia Flores, for a hearing devoted to procedural questions.
Kidnapped during a spectacular military operation by the American army, involving some 150 planes and helicopters in addition to ground troops, Nicolas Maduro, 63, is being prosecuted in the United States on four counts, including narcoterrorism.
His wife, 69, faces three charges. Both deny the charges against them.
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After a standoff with the American government, it finally gave the green light for Venezuela to pay their legal fees, which the administration initially prevented by highlighting the international sanctions weighing on the country.
During his first appearance in New York, shortly after his capture, Nicolas Maduro presented himself as “a prisoner of war”.
In addition to the criminal proceedings targeting the former president, the families of five young men killed in Venezuela filed a civil lawsuit against him in early July, accusing him of ordering their executions as part of a broader pattern of state violence.
Since her departure, interim President Delcy Rodriguez has taken power and is governing under pressure from Washington, which claims to be in control of the oil country.
