Deposed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro made his first court appearance on Monday, days after he and his wife were captured by the U.S. at their home in an overnight military operation and flown to New York to face narco-terrorism charges brought by the Trump administration.
Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were transported by helicopter from Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, where they’ve been detained, to a federal courthouse in lower Manhattan.
According to the 25-page indictment, Maduro, his wife and others are accused of using his “illegally obtained authority” to facilitate the shipment of thousands of tons of cocaine into the United States. They could face life in prison if convicted.
President Trump defended the American military intervention in Venezuela as a national security issue, given its vast oil reserves, saying that the U.S. would temporarily “run the country” until it is “run properly.”
The move sent shockwaves across the western hemisphere, especially in Greenland, after Trump expressed renewed interest in the semi-autonomous Danish territory. “We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security,” Trump told reporters. “And Denmark is not going to be able to do it.”
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio reiterated a warning to Cuba on NBC’s Meet the Press, saying, “They’re in a lot of trouble.”
Live13 updates