Maduro & His Wife Plead Not Guilty in Court as Rival Protests Rage Outside
Meanwhile, Caracas has ordered arrests of anyone linked to the US military assault...
This article originally appeared on ZeroHedge and was republished with permission.
Guest post by Tyler Durden
And the arraignment circus begins.
With world media cameras gathered outside the federal courthouse in Lower Manhattan and the court “perp walk” of Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores set to take place at around noon (eastern), a gaggle of rival protest groups have gathered.
MADURO SAYS HE IS NOT GUILTY OF US NARCO-TERRORISM CHARGES
MADURO SAYS HE IS AN INNOCENT, DECENT MAN
CILIA FLORES ALSO PLEADS NOT GUILTY TO US CHARGES
CILIA FLORES SAYS SHE IS `COMPLETELY INNOCENT’
JUDGE SETS NEXT MADURO HEARING FOR MARCH 17
Maduro: “I’m innocent. I’m a decent man. I’m the president of Venezuela. I consider myself a prisoner of war.”
The opposing groups appear to number in the several dozens each, some holding “USA hands off of Venezuela” and “US out of Latin America” signs - while others are celebrating the US ouster of the longtime socialist strongman who was accused by Washington last July of ‘stealing’ the national election which kept him in power.
Threats and slogans are being hurled in both Spanish and English across police-erected barriers. They represent the political divide not only among the Venezuelan community in the US, but also with some among contingent accused of being “paid Left-wing agitators”. But we can also imagine that more simply anti-war Americans are among them, but also without doubt pro-socialist activists. The day is about to get a lot more interesting...
Some conservative pundits are claiming that among the most vocal protesters include Venezuelan-government linked agitators, or else diehard socialists.
But amid a thick information war kicking into full gear, there’s reason to question all simplistic claims and counter-claims at this point:
However, plenty of Libertarians, anti-war Conservatives, and even those among Trump’s MAGA base are standing against the brazen US military invasion of Venezuela, which Trump has long admitted is to essentially ‘get back’ control of the country’s significant proven oil reserves.
Meanwhile, a strong counterpoint to those quickly jumping on the regime change bandwagon...
In Caracas, the government under Maduro’s VP and now Interim President Delcy Rodriguez has ordered police to arrest anyone who helped the US military invasion and capture of Maduro.
And will the CIA now get its Caracas base of operations back? The US is preparing to reopen its embassy in Caracas if President Trump authorizes.
* * *
That didn’t take long. At a moment Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro and his wife Flores are set to appear before a New York federal judge on various drug-trafficking and gun-running related charges, his VP and now apparently Interim President Delcy Rodriguez is offering a huge olive branch.
This is unsurprising given the staunchly socialist, pro-Maduro number two under the ousted president is herself under immense pressure from Washington, and still facing down the barrel of Uncle Sam’s gun - or rather the collective might of the Pentagon’s persisting US naval blockade just off Latin America’s coast.
She’s quickly expressed her willingness to cooperate with the United States on the future of Venezuela, in a significant shift in tone following Maduro’s Friday into Saturday morning ‘shock’ abduction by US special forces.
“We consider it a priority to move towards a balanced and respectful relationship between the US and Venezuela,” Rodriguez wrote on Telegram Sunday.
And more than that, her following words convey willingness of Caracas to bend the knee: “We extend an invitation to the US government to work together on a cooperation agenda, aimed at shared development, within the framework of international law, and to strengthen lasting community coexistence,” she stated.
This emphases on a “cooperation agenda” is something that Maduro himself had desperately offered Trump, reportedly over the last several weeks, but this appeared too little, too late from the US admin’s perspective.
Rodriguez is watching from Caracas as Maduro gets hauled to court in front of media cameras:
Nicolás Maduro, the ousted Venezuelan president, and his wife were expected to appear at noon on Monday in federal court in Manhattan to face charges of drug trafficking and other crimes, two days after they were captured in a U.S. military raid in Caracas.
Mr. Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were escorted off a helicopter in Downtown Manhattan on Monday morning and were being brought to the courthouse to face charges including narco-terrorism and conspiracy to import cocaine, according to an unsealed indictment. Their capture on Saturday followed a monthslong campaign by the Trump administration to drive out the autocratic leader.
He has arrived at the New York courthouse at this point, having been transported by armored vehicle after spending the night in a Brooklyn jail.
President Trump has warned that if authorities in Venezuela fail to cooperate, the United States would carry out a second strike on Venezuela, noting that any decision to deploy ground troops there would depend on how the situation develops and how Venezuela responds.
He’s also meanwhile said the idea of launching an operation involving Colombia “sounds good” to him in comments Sunday, describing the country as being in serious trouble and claiming it is currently led by “a sick man” - and even suggested he won’t remain long in power.
It was actually Colombia which has requested an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, set also for Monday. The South American country is a non-permanent member of the Council, and was supported by permanent members China and Russia.
Meanwhile the theft of Venezuelan assets has begun, with the Swiss government moving on Monday to freeze any holdings of Maduro and his associates “with immediate effect”.
“In doing so, the Federal Council aims to prevent an outflow of assets,” a Swiss statement said, stressing that “should future legal proceedings reveal that the funds were illicitly acquired, Switzerland will endeavor to ensure that they benefit the Venezuelan people.”
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