{"id":2530225,"date":"2026-01-05T19:40:01","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T00:40:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/maduro-pleads-not-guilty-tells-new-york-court-i-am-still-president\/"},"modified":"2026-01-05T19:40:53","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T00:40:53","slug":"maduro-pleads-not-guilty-tells-new-york-court-i-am-still-president","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/maduro-pleads-not-guilty-tells-new-york-court-i-am-still-president\/","title":{"rendered":"Maduro Pleads Not Guilty, Tells New York Court &#8216;I Am Still President&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmaduro-pleads-not-guilty-tells-new-york-court-i-am-still-president%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2530225&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Venezuelan leader Nicol\u00e1s Maduro was captured in an early-morning operation and appeared in a New York federal court, accompanied by his wife Cilia Flores. Maduro maintained he is the rightful president, repeatedly insisted he was kidnapped, and proclaimed his innocence.Judge Alvin Hellerstein limited Maduro&#8217;s remarks and pressed him to enter a formal plea.<\/p>\n<p>Both maduro and Flores pleaded not guilty.Maduro faces four counts: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/after-killing-u-s-energy-production-the-biden-administration-is-negotiating-with-venezuelan-terrorists-for-oil\/\" title=\"After Killing U.S. Energy Production, The Biden Administration Is Negotiating With Venezuelan Terrorists For Oil\">narco-terrorism conspiracy<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >cocaine importation conspiracy<\/a>, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess such weapons. Their lawyer, Barry Pollack, called the arrests an &#8220;abduction&#8221; and said he will file numerous motions. The couple is scheduled to return to court on March 17.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>It appears that an early morning raid and subsequent capture has done little to dull Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro&rsquo;s insistence that he&rsquo;s the country&rsquo;s rightful ruler &mdash; or his insistence that he&rsquo;s innocent.<\/p>\n<p>According to multiple reports, Maduro had his first day in court on Monday, just days after his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/breaking-white-house-confirms-u-s-attack-venezuela-captured-maduro\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">early Saturday capture<\/a>, and was as defiant as he&rsquo;s ever been.<\/p>\n<p>Per <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/us\/captured-venezuelan-dictator-maduro-faces-new-york-federal-judge-after-dramatic-palace-raid\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fox News<\/a>, Maduro and his wife both appeared in federal court in New York to plead their case after President Donald Trump authorized a daring mission to capture the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/attorney-for-alleged-narco-terrorist-demanded-clients-fake-mexican-birth-certificate-at-gunpoint\/\" title=\"Attorney for Alleged Narco-Terrorist Demanded Client&#039;s Fake Mexican Birth Certificate at Gunpoint\">alleged narco-terrorist<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I am Nicolas Maduro Moros,&rdquo; the defendant said through a translator.<\/p>\n<p>He continued, &ldquo;My name is President Nicolas Maduro Moros, President of Venezuela. I am here, kidnapped, and I am here since January 3rd, Saturday. I was captured at my home in Caracas, Venezuela.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadScript(src) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=src; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.async=true; \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.body.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadScript(\"https:\/\/embed.sendtonews.com\/player3\/embedcode.js?fk=s28Az7AY\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #stnvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#stnvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>Judge Alvin Hellerstein cut the alleged narco-terrorist off at this point, informing Maduro that this was not the proper time or venue to protest his arrest.<\/p>\n<p>And according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/politics\/im-still-president-of-my-country-defiant-maduro-appears-in-court-tells-judge-he-is-an-innocent-and-decent-man\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mediaite<\/a>, Hellerstein appeared to be rapidly losing patience with Maduro.<\/p>\n<p>The outlet, citing CNN&rsquo;s Dana Bash, reports that &ldquo;Hellerstein was repeatedly &lsquo;cutting off&rsquo; Maduro as he spouted off comments, with the judge reminding the dictator he was there simply to be arraigned.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Maduro was soon asked to enter a plea, to which he replied, &ldquo;I am innocent. I am not guilty.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>He further defended his dubious elected title, claiming, &ldquo;I am a decent man. I am still president of my country.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Barry Pollack, Maduro&rsquo;s defense lawyer, informed the judge that his client was pleading not guilty to the following four counts:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Narco-terrorism conspiracy<\/li>\n<li>Cocaine importation conspiracy<\/li>\n<li>Possession of machine guns and destructive devices<\/li>\n<li>Conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Cilia Flores, Maduro&rsquo;s wife, had also been arrested in the early Saturday raid.<\/p>\n<p>And like her husband, she pleaded not guilty.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Not guilty, completely innocent,&rdquo; Flores defiantly told the courts, roughly 10 minutes after her husband&rsquo;s plea.<\/p>\n<p>Pollack described the stunning arrests as &ldquo;an abduction&rdquo; and said he expected to file many motions as the case continues, per Fox News.<\/p>\n<p>Maduro and his wife are due back in court on March 17.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Maduro remains defiant after his early-morning capture<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2530226,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Ben-Working-Feature-Image-2026-01-05T174552.599.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[48781,36612,40746,40182,50813],"class_list":["post-2530225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-international-politics","tag-maduro","tag-new-york-court","tag-not-guilty-plea","tag-venezuela-2"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Ben-Working-Feature-Image-2026-01-05T174552.599.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2530225","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2530225"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2530225\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2530229,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2530225\/revisions\/2530229"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2530226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2530225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2530225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2530225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}