Overview
- A federal judge accepted a joint request to set the criminal trial to begin on June 1, 2027, a decision announced at a Manhattan preparatory hearing on July 22, 2026.
- Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores face U.S. charges that include four counts for Maduro, among them narcoterrorism, and three counts for Flores, and both defendants deny the allegations.
- The former president has been held in a Brooklyn detention facility since January 3, 2026, and made his third public court appearance in Manhattan during the July 22 hearing.
- A civil lawsuit filed in early July by families of five young men accuses Maduro of ordering executions, and the U.S. government has cleared Venezuela to pay the defendants’ legal fees after an earlier sanction-related block.
- Court scheduling still faces potential changes from planned defense challenges to the legality of the capture and disputes over classified evidence, with a November 17, 2026 hearing set to address defense motions.