‘I’m a prisoner of war’

The sound of clanking leg shackles could be heard moments before Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro walked through the doorway of a New York City courtroom for the first time.

He then told packed rows of reporters and the public that he had just been “kidnapped”.

Minutes after his entrance, the Judge Alvin Hellerstein asked Maduro to confirm his identity so the proceedings could start.

“I am, sir, Nicolás Maduro. I am president of the Republic of Venezuela and I am here kidnapped since January 3rd,” he told the court in a calm Spanish before an interpreter translated for the court. “I was captured at my home in Caracas, Venezuela.”

The 92-year-old judge quickly interjected to tell Maduro that there would be a “time and a place to get into all of this”.

During the dramatic 40-minute arraignment on Monday afternoon, Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, pleaded not guilty to drugs and weapon charges.

“I’m innocent. I’m a decent man,” Maduro said, with Flores adding that she was “completely innocent”.

The 63-year-old and his wife were transferred to a New York jail after they were arrested by US forces at their compound in Venezuela on Saturday, as part of a surprise overnight operation that also saw strikes on military bases.

Dressed in blue and orange jail shirts and khaki pants, the two wore headphones to listen to a Spanish translation during the hearing, an attorney sitting between them. Maduro took meticulous notes on a yellow legal pad that he asked a judge to confirm that he could keep with him after the hearing.

When Maduro walked into the room – the same federal courtroom where Sean “Diddy” Combs was tried and convicted just months earlier – he turned around to nod at several members of the audience and greet them.

He maintained this calm and expressionless demeanour during the proceedings, even at the end, when a man watching from the public area suddenly shouted that Maduro would “pay” for his crimes.

“I’m a president and prisoner of war,” he shouted towards the man in the audience in Spanish. The man was then escorted out of the room in tears.

The proceedings were emotional for others in the court as well. Maibort Petit, a reporter from Venezuela who has covered Maduro’s administration, said the US missile strikes during Maduro’s arrest damaged her family home near Fuerte Tiuna in Caracas.

She said it was surreal to watch her former leader escorted into court in prison garb by US marshals.

Maduro’s wife, Flores, was much quieter, with bandages near her eyes and forehead for injuries her lawyers said she sustained during their weekend arrest.

Flores spoke softly with her blonde hair tied back in a bun while her lawyers asked that she be given proper medical treatment, including an X-ray of potentially bruised ribs and a fracture.

Maduro and his wife did not seek bail during the proceedings, but can do so at a later date, meaning they will remain in federal custody.

The US has accused Maduro of narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices.

Maduro was indicted alongside his wife and his son, Nicolás Ernesto Maduro Guerra – who is still in Venezuela.

The current and former interior ministers for Venezuela who oversaw the country’s police forces – Diosdado Cabello Rondón and Ramon Rodriguez Chacin – have also been charged, as has Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, an alleged gang leader of Tren de Aragua.

The US is offering rewards for information leading to the arrests of Cabello Rondón and Guerrero Flores, who was charged in New York in December with racketeering, drug importation and other crimes.

The next court hearing in Maduro’s case has been scheduled for 17 March.