Overview
- Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores are in pretrial detention in Brooklyn after U.S. special forces captured them in Caracas earlier this year on charges including 'drug terrorism'.
- A New York federal court scheduled the criminal trial to start on June 1, 2027, a date announced by Maduro’s lawyer after prosecutors sought a June trial start.
- U.S. prosecutors allege Maduro sold diplomatic passports, used diplomatic cover for drug flights, protected shipments and allied with cartels to move large volumes of cocaine to the United States.
- Maduro and Flores deny the charges and call their seizure an abduction, while supporters and opponents have both demonstrated outside New York courthouses.
- Following the capture, Venezuela’s Supreme Court installed former vice-president Delcy Rodríguez as acting president, and she has been reported to work with the U.S. on oil exports, raising geopolitical stakes for Washington’s access to Venezuelan crude.