Maduro and Wife Return to Court in Prison Garb for Argument Over Who Will Pay Legal Bills of Deposed Venezuelan Strongman, First Lady

The district judge, Alvin Hellerstein, who presides over the case against the deposed president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Adele Flores de Maduro, reserved his decision on the issue of how the defendants would pay for their attorneys during a packed court hearing on Thursday. However, the judge made clear that he would not grant the defense’s motion to dismiss the case. “I am not going to dismiss the case,” Judge Hellerstein, 92, told the courtroom. Mr. Maduro, 63, and Ms. Flores, 69, appeared in court on Thursday for the first time since their arraignment on January 5, when they pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking charges brought against them by the U.S. government. The husband and his wife were both dressed in beige prison garb. They were not handcuffed. Mr. Maduro was mostly taking notes during the proceeding, shifting through papers on the defense table and nervously moving around in his chair. His wife appeared calmer. She had her arms folded on the table and looked straight ahead at the judge. Ms. Flores, a Venezuelan attorney, served as attorney general in her home country from 2012 to 2013. A person holds up a puppet of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in an orange jumpsuit as he is interviewed outside of Manhattan Federal Court ahead of his court hearing on March 26, 2026 in New York City. Michael M. Santiago/Getty ImagesThe couple was seized by American Special Operations forces at their residence within Fuerte Tiuna, a sprawling and heavily fortified military complex in central Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, in the early morning hours of January 3 and flown from an American assault ship off the Venezuela coast to New York City, where they are being held at the notoriously squalid Metropolitan Detention Center, Brooklyn.Federal prosecutors accuse Mr. Maduro, Ms. Flores, and Mr. Maduro’s son from a prior marriage, Nicolas Maduro Guerra, as well as two government officials and the head of the drug trafficking gang Tren de Aragua of being involved in decades-long operations that sent large quantities of cocaine to the United States to enrich themselves. Besides Mr. Maduro and Ms. Flores, who are being held at the Brooklyn jail, all other defendants are still at large. Judge Hellerstein had originally scheduled Thursday’s hearing to set a pretrial motion schedule and possibly a trial date, but he needed to first address the issue of how Mr. Maduro and his wife would pay for their defense attorneys. Due to Washington’s sanctions on the oil-rich South American country, Mr. Maduro’s attorney Barry Pollack needs to secure a US government license – allowing him to be paid by the Venezuelan goverment– that has been denied. Mr. Pollack, who previously represented Julian Assange, argued in court filings that the licensing requirement infringed upon the Maduros’ constitutional rights to legal counsel, and requested that the entire case be dismissed on procedural grounds.Supporters of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and counter protestors yell at each other outside of Manhattan Federal Court ahead of his court hearing on March 26, 2026 in New York City. Michael M. Santiago/Getty ImagesOn Thursday, Mr. Pollak told the court again that a defendant has a right to counsel “of his choice” and that the Maduros had no funds to afford such counsel on their own. They should therefore be granted access to money provided by the Venezuelan government to pay for their defense. Judge Hellerstein told the parties that he recently reviewed the indictment and found that the case would require defense counsel to conduct “lots of investigative work,” including travel abroad to question witnesses in other countries. Mr. Pollack agreed, saying that such a costly defense could drain court funds and tax payer money. “For all those reasons, we should not be using public funds… but use the Venezuelan government’s funds,” the defense attorney said. But the government says these funds are sanctioned and should thus not be available to the Maduros. Federal prosecutor Kyle Wirshba argued before the court that the sanctions in place against Venezuela were a matter of national security and foreign policy interest. Supporters of Nicolas Maduro demonstrate outside federal court on Thursday, March 26 2026. Marie Pohl“There are long standing preexisting sanctions that prevented these defendants from having access to any of these funds in the United States,” Mr. Wirshba told the judge. But the judge noted that “things have changed in Venezuela,” and that the defendants had a constitutional right to defend themselves. “I am looking at the executive order that set up the sanctions by President Obama,” the judge said, and “those interests are no longer implicated… We have changed the situation in Venezuela.” But the prosecutor pushed back. He said the license was denied by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, an agency that is part of the Treasury Department, due to the sanctions against Venezuela. In this courtroom sketch, President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, appear in Manhattan federal court with their defense attorneys Mark Donnelly and Andres Sanchez, Monday, January 5, 2026, at New York. Elizabeth Williams via AP“Does the court have any role?” Judge Hellerstein asked. “The argument is that a specific licence is necessary.” He asked if any court order could pressure OFAC to reconsider its decision.The prosecutor noted that “since 2019” no Venezuelan government funds have been available to anyone in the United States for “important national and foreign policy reasons.” But the judge, noting again and again that this case was “beyond normal” and that there had never been a case like this before, wondered if the constitutional right to a defense was “paramount.” He also worried that if a public defender would take on the case, it would tax their office and keep them from doing “their primary work.” The judge asked the prosecutor if there were any other funds that the defendants could access. “Tell me about the availability of other funds,” Judge Hellerstein asked the prosecutor. A U.S. Marshall officer stands guard ahead of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s court hearing at Manhattan Federal Court on March 26, 2026 in New York City. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images“The government is investigating the availability of other funds,” Mr. Wirshba replied. “I don’t have anything to show now.” When the judge asked the defense attorney what remedy he would recommend to solve the problem, Mr. Pollack recommended that the judge grant his motion and dismiss the case, which the judge denied. He told the parties he would reserve his decision on the matter for now. Outside of the courthouse a small group of protesters had gathered to support the Maduros, waving Cuban and Venezuelan flags, and holding up dozens of “Free Palestine” signs. One protester was shouting, “Free the Maduros! They have done nothing wrong.”Supporters of Nicolas Maduro demonstrate outside federal court on Thursday, March 26 2026. Marie PohlAn even smaller group of counterprotesters were also present.Mr. Maduro, a former labor organizer and key lieutenant to Venezuela’s late revolutionary leader, Hugo Chavez, was the 53rd president of Venezuela from 2013 until his capture by U.S. forces in January 2026, overseeing a hardline continuation of Chavez’s socialist regime. His time in power was marked by economic failure (despite Venezuela’s prodigious oil wealth), authoritarian governance, disputed elections, human rights abuses, imprisonment, torture and killings of political opponents, and one of the largest migration crises in the world. The Trump Administration also claims the Venezuelan government was involved in trafficking drugs to the United States. As of early 2026, nearly 8 million Venezuelans have fled their country. According to numerous studies, over 91 percent of Venezuelans live below the poverty line. More than a million Venezuelan emigrants are now in the United States. During his arraignment on January 5, Mr. Maduro told the judge in Spanish that “I am not guilty. I am a decent man, the constitutional president of my country.” He accused the U.S. government of kidnapping him, “I have been kidnapped… I am a prisoner of war,” Mr. Maduro said, speaking through a translator.After Thursday’s hearing ended, Mr. Maduro shook hands with Mr. Pollack and his translator. As he left the defense table and followed the U.S. Marshals Service, he told his attorney, “Hasta mañana,” which is Spanish for, “See you tomorrow.”

Maduro and Wife Return to Court in Prison Garb for Argument Over Who Will Pay Legal Bills of Deposed Venezuelan Strongman, First Lady

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