Maduro Stunned By American Legal Rights in Court

Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro appeared visibly rattled during his first appearance in a U.S. courtroom Monday, expressing apparent shock at the constitutional protections afforded to criminal defendants under the American legal system.

Observers in the courtroom said Maduro seemed genuinely unaware that he had the right to an attorney, could remain silent, was eligible to seek bail, and that statements made without legal counsel could potentially be excluded from evidence — liberties routinely denied to political opponents under his authoritarian rule in Venezuela.

According to a transcript provided by reporters present at the hearing, the exchange unfolded as follows:

Judge Alvin Hellerstein: Are you Nicolás Maduro Moros?

Maduro: (In Spanish, via Inner City Press interpretation) I am the president of Venezuela. I consider myself a prisoner of war. I was captured at my home in Caracas.

Judge: Let me intervene. There will be time for this.

Judge: I only want to know, are you Nicolás Maduro Moros?

Maduro: Yes.

Judge: Have you been served the indictment?

Defense Lawyer: We waive public reading.

Maduro: I have it in my hands for the first time. I prefer to read it personally.

Judge: Anything you say may be used against you. I see you have counsel, Mr. Pollack, here. If you cannot afford an attorney, the government will provide one free of charge. Did you know of these rights?

Maduro: I did not know of these rights until now.

Judge: How do you plead?

Maduro: I am innocent. I am a decent man. I am president—

Defense Lawyer: It is a plea of not guilty to all counts.

Judge: Bridget— (addressing the courtroom deputy) She will arraign you.

Deputy: Have you seen the indictment?

Maduro: Seen, but not read.

Deputy: Have you discussed it with your lawyer?

Maduro: Partially.

Deputy: How do you plead?

Maduro: I am innocent. I am not guilty of anything that is mentioned here.

The dramatic courtroom scene followed a weekend operation in which U.S. Special Forces captured Maduro in Caracas and transported him to New York to face narcoterrorism and drug-trafficking charges. His wife was also detained in the operation, which reportedly disabled key components of Venezuela’s air-defense system.

President Donald Trump escalated regional tensions following the arrest, issuing a sharp warning to Colombian President Gustavo Petro while traveling aboard Air Force One. Trump accused Petro of presiding over a narco-state fueled by cocaine exports and suggested his grip on power was nearing its end.

“The government in Bogotá is run by a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States,” Trump said. “And he’s not going to be doing it very long. Let me tell you.”

When asked whether that comment implied potential military action, Trump responded bluntly: “Sounds good to me.”

Petro responded on X by condemning Trump’s remarks as “slander” and calling on Latin American nations to band together or risk being “treated as servants and slaves.” He further accused Washington of bombing a South American capital “for the first time in human history” in connection with the Maduro operation.

International reaction was swift and divided. Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and Spain criticized the U.S. action as a “dangerous precedent for peace,” while Argentine President Javier Milei openly praised the collapse of what he described as a brutal dictatorship.

Speaking later at Mar-a-Lago, President Trump said the United States would temporarily administer Venezuela to ensure a “safe and proper transition” back to legitimate governance. He also announced that American oil companies would move in to revive Venezuela’s decimated energy sector — a proposal critics claimed underscored Washington’s strategic interest in the nation’s vast petroleum reserves.

For many observers, however, Maduro’s apparent astonishment at basic constitutional rights offered a striking contrast between America’s rule of law and the repression long imposed on the Venezuelan people under his regime.