Toppled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro pleaded not guilty on Monday to narcotics charges after President Donald Trump’s stunning capture of him rattled world leaders and left officials in Caracas scrambling to regroup.
“I am innocent. I am not guilty. I am a decent man. I am still president of my country,” Maduro, 63, said through an interpreter, before being cut off by U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein in Manhattan federal court.
Maduro’s wife Cilia Flores also pleaded not guilty. The next court date was set for March 17.
Dozens of protesters, both pro- and anti-Maduro, gathered outside the courthouse before the half-hour hearing.
Hours later in Caracas, Maduro’s vice president Delcy Rodriguez was sworn in as Venezuela’s interim president with words of support for Maduro but no indication she would fight the U.S. move.
“I come with pain in my heart over the kidnapping of two heroes who are being held hostage,” she said, pledging to move Venezuela forward in “these terrible times.”
ACCUSATIONS OF COCAINE-TRAFFICKING
Maduro is accused of overseeing a cocaine-trafficking network that partnered with violent groups including Mexico’s Sinaloa and Zetas cartels, Colombian FARC rebels and Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang.
He faces four criminal counts: narco-terrorism, cocaine importation conspiracy and possession of machine guns and destructive devices.
Maduro has long denied the allegations, saying they were a mask for imperialist designs on Venezuela’s rich oil reserves.
Trump has made no secret of wanting to share in Venezuela’s oil riches. U.S. oil companies’ shares jumped on Monday, fueled by the prospect of access to those vast reserves.
While world leaders and U.S. politicians grappled with the extraordinary seizure of a head of state, an emergency order in Venezuela, published in full on Monday, ordered police to search and capture anyone who supported Saturday’s U.S. attack.
At the United Nations, the Security Council debated the implications of the raid, which was condemned by Russia, China and leftist allies of Venezuela.