The second hearing in the case against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores began this Thursday in a federal court in New York. Both were captured in Caracas and accused by the U.S. Justice Department of charges related to drug trafficking. Maduro and Flores are seated with their defense and are wearing headphones to listen to the translation of the proceedings, according to CNN. The judge in the case, Alvin Hellerstein, entered the courtroom around 11:45 (15:45 GMT), although the hearing was scheduled for 11:00. One of Maduro and Flores's lawyers, Barry Pollack, told the magistrate that his clients cannot pay for their defense themselves and stated that they «have every right to use» funds from the government of Venezuela, according to the network. The defense recently asked the judge to dismiss the charges, alleging that the U.S. government revoked the licenses that allowed the use of Venezuelan funds to cover their defense, which they call an «administrative error». Maduro and Flores arrived at the court early this morning, around 4:00 local time (8:00 GMT), in a convoy of three windowless vans. The couple was captured earlier this year in Caracas by U.S. special forces and subsequently transferred to New York. The ousted president is accused of four charges: three of conspiracy to commit narco-terrorism, to import cocaine, and to possess machine guns and destructive devices, and a fourth charge of possessing such weapons. Flores, for her part, is accused of two counts of conspiracy to import cocaine, one of conspiracy to possess weapons, and another of weapon possession. At their first appearance, Maduro pleaded «not guilty» and defined himself as a «prisoner of war». Experts estimate that the formal trial will not begin for another one or two years, by which time the judge would be 94 years old. Protests outside the court From early in the morning, two groups of protesters have been gathering outside the courthouse, one in favor and one against Maduro, leading to clashes and moments of tension. The New York Police Department has separated the protests to prevent further clashes. The Chavista group, composed mostly of Americans, denounces the arrest of Maduro and Flores as «illegal» and demands their release, while the other, made up exclusively of Venezuelans, calls for justice to be served. Among the protesters were also three people from the Spanish far-right organization Hazte Oír, who carried posters with Maduro's face; the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, and former Prime Minister José Luís Rodríguez Zapatero, under the title «Criminals».
