Overview
- Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores remain in federal custody at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center after pleading not guilty in the Southern District of New York.
- The 2026 filing alleges decades of state-enabled cocaine trafficking and cooperation with armed groups, exposing Maduro to a potential life sentence if convicted.
- New York authorities are preparing enhanced transport and protection plans for court movements, with interagency security meetings expected in the coming weeks.
- Reports detail Vatican mediation and a Russian asylum offer that failed before the January 3 capture, with unverified accounts indicating roughly 100 fatalities in the operation.
- President Trump told oil executives that companies are ready to invest at least $100 billion in Venezuela under U.S. oversight, as the court set March 17 for the next hearing and the defense prepares sovereign-immunity and jurisdiction challenges.