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Venezuela’s ousted leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, have asked a United States judge to dismiss the drug trafficking charges against them, arguing that they are protected by immunity as the president and first lady of a sovereign state.
The couple has been held in a Brooklyn jail since US forces captured them in Caracas on January 3 in an operation that removed Maduro from power.
Maduro and Flores have both pleaded not guilty to the federal drug trafficking and firearms charges. A hearing on their bid to have the charges dismissed has been scheduled for November 7 in New York, while their trial will begin in June 2027.
In a court filing, Maduro’s lawyers have argued that no US court has previously conducted a criminal trial involving a foreign leader who was recognised by his own country as its sitting head of state when the charges were brought.
The lawyers have maintained that international legal principles have long protected sitting heads of state from criminal proceedings in foreign national courts, arguing that Maduro is therefore entitled to immunity over alleged conduct carried out while he was Venezuela’s president.
“No American court has ever presided over the criminal trial of a foreign leader who was recognised by their own country as the sitting head of state at the time the charges were brought,” reads a court filing by Maduro’s lawyer.
“That is not an accident of history. It reflects a rule older than the common law: heads of state are exempt from the criminal process of any national court but their own,” it adds.
US prosecutors, however, have accused Maduro of using state power to facilitate and promote drug trafficking, alleging that he worked with criminal cartels to move tons of cocaine into the United States.
Maduro has pleaded not guilty to four charges, including conspiracy to commit narco-terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine, and charges relating to the possession and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices.
Flores has also pleaded not guilty to three charges involving conspiracy to import cocaine, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess the weapons and devices.
On Sunday, Maduro said in a social media post that he remained “standing firm.” The post included two photographs of him inside the jail wearing a grey tracksuit and making peace signs with his hands.
Maduro has previously told a US court that he was “kidnapped” and described himself as a “prisoner of war.”
Since his capture, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez has governed Venezuela as interim leader under intense pressure from US President Donald Trump’s administration.
US energy companies have this week signed several multi-billion-dollar deals with Venezuela, days after the South American country agreed to give the United States control over a significant portion of its vast oil reserves.
Critics in the US and Venezuela have accused Trump of holding the country for ransom after removing Maduro from power. They have also warned that Rodriguez could face a similar fate if she fails to meet US demands.
