Main Points
- Captured Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and first lady Cilia Flores have plead not guilty to US charges brought against them in a New York City court on Monday
- Maduro told the court, ‘I’m innocent. I am not guilty … I am a decent man. I am still president of my country’
- Charges against the pair include narco-terrorism, drug trafficking and money laundering
- This court appearance came following the capture of Maduro from Caracas during an operation by US forces
- US president Donald Trump said on Sunday that he could order another strike if the country does not co-operate with efforts to open up its oil industry and stop drug trafficking
- UN secretary general António Guterres has said he is ‘deeply concerned’ following the US operation in Venezuela
- Venezuela has the world’s largest reserves of crude oil at over 300 billion barrels
Venezuelan tankers sailing without flag or safety documentation
Tankers loaded with Venezuelan crude and fuel that left the country’s waters in recent days are sailing in international waters without a known flag or ship safety documentation in place, shipping data showed.
The location of the vessels is unknown since they left Venezuelan waters.
All commercial ships have to be registered, or flagged, with a country partly to comply with safety and environmental regulations.
Ship classification societies provide safety services such as checking that ships are seaworthy, and this certification is essential for securing insurance and entry into ports.
Trump imposed a blockade of all sanctioned tankers bound for Venezuela in mid-December, before the capture of Maduro by US troops in the early hours of Saturday.
The ships have sailed despite Trump saying on Saturday that an oil embargo remained in full force after Maduro’s extraction. – Reuters
Rodriguez sworn in as Venezuela’s new president
Venezuela’s vice-president and oil minister Delcy Rodriguez was formally sworn in on Monday as the country’s interim president, as US-deposed president Nicolas Maduro appeared in a New York court on drug charges, after the Trump administration removed him from power in a dramatic weekend military action.
Rodriguez, a 56-year-old labour lawyer known for close connections to the private sector and her devotion to the ruling party, was sworn in by her brother Jorge, who is the head of the national assembly legislature. Also sworn in on Monday were 283 politicians elected last May.
Just a small number of are classed as opposition – most of the opposition, especially the faction directed by Nobel Prize winner Machado, boycotted the contest. The only politician not in attendance was first lady Cilia Flores, who is in US custody along with her husband Maduro. – Reuters
Byrne refuses to criticise US removal of Maduro
Minister of State Thomas Byrne has refused to criticise the manner in which the United States removed Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro from power.
Byrne was asked repeatedly on RTÉ’s Drivetime whether the Government believed the US actions breached international law but he declined to give a direct answer.
“That’s not for me to judge,” he said, also describing the snatching of Maduro as “not an ideal situation”.
Byrne is minister of state at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Department of Defence and a qualified solicitor who was representing the Government on the radio programme but he admitted he had not consulted the Attorney General on the legality of the US actions.
He said international law must be upheld but it was up the United Nations Security Council, of which the US is a permanent member with veto powers, to adjudicate on what constituted a breach.
“The body that makes a decision on international law is the UN security council,” he said.
Social media reacted with heads-in-hands emojis.
On X, Sinn Féin press officer Luke O’Riordan commented: “We should consider entering Thomas Byrne into the Olympics. A truly mind-blowing display of gymnastics on Drivetime here.” - Car–line O’Doherty
While US president Donald Trump does not seem to have posted anything to his own social media channels, the US department of state did post this on Monday evening.
The message states: “This is OUR Hemisphere.”
Brazilian president Lula da Silva had a phone call on Saturday with Venezuela’s acting president Delcy Rodriguez, his office said on Monday, after the United States attacked the South American country and deposed Maduro.
Lula condemned the US actions as crossing an “unacceptable line”. – Reuters
EU gives stuttering response to US action in Venezuela as Greenland threat resurfaces
Our Brussels correspondent Jack Power writes:
The European Union’s response to US intervention removing Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro from power has been a stuttering one, with the bloc mostly holding its tongue to avoid antagonising Donald Trump.
The private shock at the US decision to deploy military force was followed by a muted public reaction.
A joint EU statement negotiated over the weekend called for the principles of international law to be upheld, but stopped short of any direct criticism of Washington’s actions.
Read his analysis in full here.
During the hearing, Maduro said: “I’m innocent. I am not guilty. I am a decent man, the president of my country.”
It is worth noting that Barry Pollack, who represented Maduro in court on Monday, has also represented WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in the past.
Pollack is a partner of the Harris St Laurent & Wechsler legal firm based in New York and Washington DC.
Maduro’s next court date set
Judge Alvin Hellerstein has ordered Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores to next appear in court on March 17th.
Maduro’s lawyer ‘not seeking release’
Maduro’s lawyer, Barry Pollack, says he is “not seeking release at this time” on bail but that he may later.
Pollack notes he may file motions concerning Maduro’s role as head of a sovereign state, and adding that “there are questions about the legality of his military abduction,” he adds.
Pollack says Maduro has health problems that will require attention, and Flores’ lawyer says she has more severe injuries that will also need attention. Neither gave specifics. – NYT
Maduro hearing begins long legal fight
Maduro, wearing a blue jail uniform, and his wife were led into court at around noon local time for a brief, but required, legal proceeding that will likely kick off a prolonged legal fight over whether he can be put on trial in the US.
Both put on headsets to hear the English-language proceeding as it is translated into Spanish.
The couple were transported under armed guard early on Monday from the Brooklyn jail where they have been detained to a Manhattan courthouse.
The trip was swift. A motorcade carrying Maduro left jail at around 7.15am local time and made its way to a nearby athletic field, where Maduro slowly made his way to a waiting helicopter.
The chopper flew across New York harbour and landed at a Manhattan heliport, where Maduro, limping, was loaded into an armoured vehicle.
A few minutes later, the law enforcement caravan was inside a garage at the courthouse complex, just around the corner from the one where Trump was convicted in 2024 of falsifying business records.
Across the street from the courthouse, the police separated a small but growing group of protesters from about a dozen pro-intervention demonstrators, including one man who pulled a Venezuelan flag away from those protesting over the US action.
As a criminal defendant in the US legal system, Maduro will have the same rights as any other person accused of a crime – including the right to a trial by a jury of regular New Yorkers.
Maduro’s lawyers are expected to contest the legality of his arrest, arguing that he is immune from prosecution as a sovereign head of state. – AP
Maduro and Flores pleads not guilty to all four charges
The deposed leader of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, pleaded “not guilty” to all four counts against him today, including drug-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine-importation conspiracy, and possession of machine guns and destructive devices.
“I am innocent. I am not guilty. I am a decent man,” Maduro told judge Alvin Hellerstein in court today.
Flores has also pleaded not guilty and said she is “completely innocent”. – Additional reporting Guardian
Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores are now appearing before the court in New York.
Maduro’s son says US ‘kidnapped’ his father and stepmother
Maduro’s son, Nicolás Maduro Guerra, took the floor in the Venezuelan National Assembly to praise his father and stepmother, and said they had been “kidnapped” by the United States.
“Thanks to the struggle of the people mobilised both inside and outside the country, they will return; our eyes will see them,” he promised. – NYT
Irish military aircraft sent to monitor fleeing oil tanker
A little closer to home, the Defence Forces has deployed an aircraft to monitor the passage of a fugitive oil tanker off the west coast that was being pursued by the US military.
The ship was chased across the Atlantic over the weekend by US naval forces after it attempted to collect a consignment of oil from Venezuela last month. During its journey it changed its flag and registration from Guyana to Russia in an apparent attempt to deter its pursuers.
Russia then requested the US to call off its pursuit. Washington has issued a seizure order against the ship and claims it was involved in the transport of sanctioned Venezuelan oil. It has already seized two similar vessels as part of its military targeting of the South American country.
Read Conor Gallagher’s full story here.
US ambassador says there is ‘no war in Venezuela’
Mike Waltz, the US ambassador to the UN, addressed the security council on Monday afternoon, insisting that there is “no war in Venezuela” after the large scale strikes on the country and the capture of its president and first lady.
“We are not occupying a country. This was a law enforcement operation in furtherance of lawful indictments that have existed for decades,” Waltz added, claiming that there is precedent for this kind of action after the US captured the former leader of Panama, Manuel Noriega, in 1989.
Waltz said that the “overwhelming evidence” of Maduro’s crimes will be “presented openly in US court proceedings”. A reminder that the deposed president is charged with drug-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine-importation conspiracy, and weapons trafficking.
“Maduro is not just an indicted drug trafficker. He was an illegitimate so called president,” the ambassador said.
“I want to reiterate president Trump gave diplomacy a chance. He offered Maduro multiple offerings he tried to de escalate. Maduro refused to take them.” – Guardian
China address UN Security Council
Earlier this afternoon, China addressed a meeting of the Security Council at UN headquarters in New York City, where it called for the release of Maduro and Flores.
China’ deputy representative Fu Cong said: “As a permanent member of the Council, the US has disregarded the grave concerns of the international community, wantonly trampled upon Venezuela’s sovereignty, security and legitimate rights and interests, and seriously violated the principles of sovereign equality.”
“No country can act as the world’s police, nor can any state presume to be the international judge ... No country can act as the world’s police, nor can any state presume to be the international judge.”
Trump suggests US could take action against more countries
Trump also suggested that the United States could take action against more countries, including Colombia, Mexico and the territory of Greenland. Asked whether that could mean a US operation against Colombia, he said: “It sounds good to me.”
The remarks drew a mix of responses. The president of Colombia warned that any attempt to detain him would unleash popular fury.
But Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum brushed aside the remarks. “This is just president Trump’s manner of speaking,” she said at a news conference on Monday. – New York Times
Trump serious about taking over Greenland, says Danish PM
Elsewhere on Monday, Denmark’s prime minister Mette Frederiksen said on Monday that she believes Trump is serious about wanting to take over Greenland, and that both Denmark and Greenland have clearly rejected his ambition.
“Unfortunately, I think the American president should be taken seriously when he says he wants Greenland,” Frederiksen told public broadcaster DR.
“I have made it very clear where the Kingdom of Denmark stands, and Greenland has repeatedly said that it does not want to be part of the United States,” she added.
“If the United States attacks another Nato country, everything stops,” Frederiksen said. – Reuters
UN secretary general ‘deeply concerned’ following US operation
United Nations secretary general António Guterres raised concerns on Monday about a possible intensification of instability in Venezuela after the US capture of Mr Maduro.
“I am deeply concerned about the possible intensification of instability in the country, the potential impact on the region, and the precedent it may set for how relations between and among states are conducted,” Guterres said in a statement delivered to the council by UN political affairs chief Rosemary DiCarlo.
Mr Guterres also said in the statement that he was concerned that the US operation to capture Mr Maduro in Caracas early on Saturday did not respect the rules of international law.
“I welcome and am ready to support all efforts aimed at assisting Venezuelans in finding a peaceful way forward,” he said in the statement. – Reuters
Maduro allegedly headed ‘corrupt, illegitimate government’
In New York, charging papers against Mr Maduro allege that he headed a “corrupt, illegitimate government that, for decades, has leveraged government power to protect and promote illegal activity, including drug trafficking”.
The US president has called the weekend attack on Venezuela, in which Mr Maduro was deposed and captured, a “brilliant operation” and has suggested it could be a blueprint for other countries in Latin America, primarily Colombia.
Mr Trump told reporters on Sunday that he could order another strike if Venezuela does not co-operate with US efforts to open up its oil industry and stop drug trafficking. He also threatened military action in Colombia and Mexico and said Cuba’s communist regime “looks like it’s ready to fall” on its own.
The Colombian and Mexican embassies in Washington did not immediately return requests for comment. – Guardian
Venezuela’s acting president offers to work with US
Following the capture of her predecessor, Venezuela’s acting president Delcy Rodríguez, has offered to work with the US, dialling down the confrontational tone she initially adopted after the capture of Mr Maduro.
In a statement late on Sunday, Ms Rodríguez said she had “invited the US government to work together on an agenda of co-operation”.
She was sworn in as president by the supreme court on Saturday and, the following, day the heads of the country’s armed forces agreed to recognise her authority, while still demanding the immediate release of Maduro and his wife.
In her first public appearance after Mr Maduro’s capture on Saturday, Ms Rodríguez initially struck a defiant tone, declaring that Venezuela would “never again be anyone’s colony”. – Guardian
Maduro due to appear in NYC court
Venezuela’s deposed leader Nicolás Maduro arrived at a New York court on Monday afternoon Irish time to face drug charges while the United Nations was to debate the legality of US president Donald Trump’s extraordinary operation to capture him.
In the biggest US intervention in Latin America since the 1989 invasion of Panama, special forces swooped into Caracas on helicopters at the weekend to smash through Mr Maduro’s security cordon and nab him at the door of a safe room.
Mr Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were taken by armed guards soon after midday Irish time on Monday from a Brooklyn detention centre to a helicopter that whisked them to the Manhattan federal court where they face a 5pm Irish time hearing.
Mr Maduro is accused of overseeing a cocaine-trafficking network that partnered with violent groups including Mexico’s Sinaloa and Zetas cartels, Colombian FARC rebels and Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang.
Mr Maduro (63) has long denied the allegations, saying they were a mask for imperialist designs on Venezuela’s oil. – Reuters
