Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured by US special forces in a dramatic operation in Caracas on January 3, 2026. They were subsequently transported to New York and made their first appearance in a US federal court on January 5, 2026. Both Maduro and Flores pleaded not guilty to charges including narco-terrorism, cocaine importation conspiracy, and firearms offenses. In a defiant statement to US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, Maduro asserted that he was "kidnapped" from his home and insisted that he remains the constitutional president of Venezuela. His defense team is led by prominent US trial lawyer Barry Pollack, known for previously representing WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. The charges against Maduro are based on a superseding indictment unsealed on January 3, 2026, which revised an earlier indictment from 2020. The US operation, ordered by then-President Donald Trump, has drawn strong international condemnation from several countries and the UN Secretary-General, who suggested it constituted a breach of international law and principles of sovereignty. The arraignment marks the beginning of a complex and high-stakes legal battle, with significant geopolitical implications for international law and relations between the United States and Venezuela.