January 04, 2026 — Dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, will appear before a federal court in New York this Tuesday, marking their first appearance in the U.S. following their capture and extradition, judicial sources confirmed to EFE on Sunday. According to a spokesperson for the Southern District Court of New York, both will be brought before U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein in Manhattan at 12:00 local time (17:00 GMT). Maduro and Flores have been held since Saturday night at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn, a high-security federal prison. This hearing comes after the U.S. government announced on Saturday the capture of the Venezuelan leader in Caracas during an operation that included airstrikes against targets in Venezuela. Maduro is accused in the U.S. of four federal charges: conspiracy to commit narco-terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess such devices in support of criminal activities, as well as collaborating with criminal organizations designated as terrorist by Washington. The accusations, filed in 2020 by the Southern District of New York Attorney's Office and confirmed on Saturday, allege that the Venezuelan president led for years a network that used drug trafficking as a weapon against the United States. Cilia Flores, for her part, faces charges related to alleged logistical and financial support operations for the same criminal structure, according to judicial documents cited by U.S. media. It is also likely that both will be held without bail while the judicial process unfolds, as reported today by The New York Times and CBS News.
