Hellerstein Presides as Maduro Fights Case
The scene outside SDNY.
Photographer: Bing Guan/Bloomberg
Nicolás Maduro and his wife pleaded not guilty to US charges in a narco-terrorism case, kicking off an extraordinary legal battle and placing lower Manhattan’s federal district courthouse at the center of geopolitics.
“I am innocent,” Maduro said on Monday at a half-hour hearing. “I am a decent man,” adding he’s still the president of Venezuela and was “kidnapped” from Caracas.
The US accused Maduro of using his positions in government for a quarter of a century to enrich himself and help transport cocaine into the country. His toppling reverberated around the world ...