Venezuela Defense Minister
FILE - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, left, and Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez attend a government-organized civic-military march in Caracas, Venezuela, Nov. 25, 2025.
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Former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is due in court as he seeks to have his drug trafficking indictment thrown out over a geopolitical dispute over legal fees. Maduro’s lawyer contends that the U.S. is violating the deposed leader’s constitutional rights by blocking Venezuelan government funds from being used to pay his legal costs. Thursday will be the first time that Maduro and wife Cilia Flores have appeared in court since a January arraignment at which he protested their capture by U.S. military forces. At the time he also declared his innocence and said he is “a decent man, the constitutional president of my country.” Flores has also pleaded not guilty.
