The federal court in New York has rescheduled the second hearing for Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, First Lady and Deputy Cilia Flores, for March 26, 2026, following an agreement between the prosecution and the defense.
The legitimate president of Venezuela and Flores have been kidnapped since the U.S. military aggression against Venezuela on January 3, which left more than one hundred people dead and caused significant material damage.
The date change, originally scheduled for March 17, was authorized by Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein due to “planning and logistical issues,” according to the official document.
The head of state and his wife must appear before the Federal Court for the Southern District of Manhattan, where the judge is expected to set the schedule of proceedings and rule on pretrial motions.
The initial appearance before that court was held on January 5, 2026, just two days after U.S. forces kidnapped the Venezuelan leader in Caracas.
On that occasion, the Bolivarian President pleaded “not guilty” to the charges, rejected the accusations, and proclaimed himself a “prisoner of war” and the legitimate head of the Venezuelan state, while his defense also dismissed the charges presented by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, which is pursuing a politically motivated and baseless trial.
The United States has filed charges that include alleged drug trafficking and arms trafficking offenses, accusations that Venezuelan authorities denounce as unfounded and part of a campaign to justify intervention against the South American country.
Caracas has questioned the legitimacy of these charges, recalling that an original indictment against Maduro for leading the so-called “Cartel of the Suns” was dropped for lack of concrete evidence.
The case comes amid a long history of hostility from Washington toward Caracas, in which the White House has frequently resorted to characterizing threats to its “national security” to exert political pressure or intervene militarily.
This stance has historically served as a pretext for violating the sovereignty of nations, interfering in their internal affairs, or accessing their natural resources through sanctions, military operations, or economic pressure.
The kidnapping of a sitting president and his transfer to a foreign court constitutes a flagrant violation of international law, which undermines the principles of sovereignty and non-interference in the internal affairs of other states.
Furthermore, it has come to light that President Maduro and Cilia Flores had a consular visit with a representative of Venezuela. In a communication, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York informed Judge Hellerstein that on January 30, 2026, the two held a consular visit with an official representing the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
The document, dated February 17, 2026, complies with the court order issued during the arraignment on January 5, when Hellerstein instructed the U.S. government to facilitate the defendants’ access to consular services and to inform the court once this had taken place.
The communication is signed by federal prosecutor Jay Clayton and his deputies, and confirms that the Venezuelan State has been able to exercise its right of consular protection over the constitutional president and the first lady, kidnapped on January 3rd.
[ SOURCE: teleSUR ]
