After being captured by the United States along with his wife, Cilia Flores, dictator Nicolás Maduro will be prosecuted by American justice on charges of drug trafficking, narcoterrorism and several other crimes related to international drug trafficking. Maduro and Cilia were captured this Saturday (3) during an operation conducted by American special forces. The now former Venezuelan president is being taken to New York, where he will answer the charges in federal court.
The United States Department of Justice presented this Saturday a new expanded indictment against Maduro and Cilia Flores, in the Federal Court of the Southern District of New York. According to the court document, the now former Venezuelan dictator is charged with conspiracy to commit narcoterrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States, as well as possession and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices against the country.
According to the indictment, which expands and updates the case originally opened in 2020, Maduro allegedly led a drug trafficking network linked to the so-called “Cartel of the Suns” for more than two decades, using Venezuelan state structures to protect and facilitate the shipment of tons of cocaine to American territory. As stated in the records, the scheme would have operated with the support of members of Venezuela’s high political and military echelons.
What should the trial be like?
The likely dynamics of the trial were analyzed by legal experts in interviews with the American press. The senior legal analyst at CNN, Elie Honig stated that Maduro and the other defendants should be treated “procedurally like any other criminal defendant” in United States courts.
According to Honig, the first step will be an initial hearing and the formal reading of the charges, which should take place a few days after the arrival of Maduro and his wife in New York. At this stage, the defendants will be officially informed about the accusations and must present their first requests, and, according to the analyst, it is expected that they will plead innocent at this initial stage.
The case is expected to be heard in the Federal Court for the Southern District of New York. Also according to Honig, the complexity of the process – which involves accusations that cover a period of around 25 years – indicates that the trial will not be quick. According to the assessment made by the CNNthe evidence analysis phase can involve millions of pages of documents and a series of appeals and requests from defendants.
Journalist Erin Burnett, also from CNNcompared the situation to that of cases of major drug traffickers tried in the United States, such as that of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán. According to Honig, Maduro must remain detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center, in Brooklyn, while the case is being processed, and the trial could take between a year and a year and a half to be concluded.
