From Caracas to Manhattan – The day a president appears before a judge

On Monday, January 5, 2026, around midday, a process will unfold that has few parallels in the history of American criminal justice. Nicolás Maduro, president of Venezuela, and his wife Cilia Flores will enter a courtroom in New York for the first time. Not as heads of state, but as defendants. Their path led from the presidential palace in Caracas to a cell in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn – and now to a federal court in Lower Manhattan.

There, at the Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Court House, both are expected to appear before a judge, state their names, hear their rights, and respond to serious allegations. The charges are conspiracy in connection with international cocaine trafficking, and in Maduro’s case additionally narco-terrorism offenses. These are criminal counts that, if convicted, carry potential sentences up to life imprisonment.

The initial hearing follows established procedures, and yet little about this day is ordinary. The presiding judge, Alvin K. Hellerstein, will have the charges read aloud, invite the defense to respond, and decide on pretrial detention. Alvin K. Hellerstein was born on December 28, 1933, and is therefore 92 years old. He is a senior judge at the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and was appointed in 1998 by President Bill Clinton. In the United States, it is customary for judges in senior status to continue taking cases and to conduct hearings and issue rulings with full judicial authority. All indications suggest that both defendants will remain in custody for the foreseeable future, with no prospect of release. The actual evidentiary phase is unlikely to begin for many months. See also our article: Kaizen Blog Commentary – US criminal prosecution and the limits of international law – The Maduro case

With the court appearance, the case leaves the world of military covert operations and enters the harsh glare of public scrutiny. The defense is highly likely to challenge the legality of the arrest and the transfer to the United States. The question will also arise whether a sitting head of state can be indicted before a US court at all, or whether he is protected by international law. Such objections are rare, but they are part of what makes this trial so extraordinary.

The US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, led by Jay Clayton, relies on years of investigations by drug enforcement authorities. Wiretaps, witness testimony, financial trails, and seized documents are intended to show that state structures in Venezuela were systematically involved in international cocaine trafficking. With respect to Flores, the accusation focuses on her alleged role within these structures.

The location itself also carries weight. The courthouse on the edge of Chinatown has been the venue for numerous trials against mafia figures, terrorism suspects, and corrupt officials. Security measures there are already strict, but the appearance of a sitting president is expected to visibly change the surroundings. Even beforehand, demonstrators protested outside the prison in Brooklyn, holding signs against the US military operation and against a policy they see as an exercise of power beyond international rules.

Politically, the proceedings are closely tied to the line of the Trump administration. The president has portrayed the seizure of Maduro as a necessary blow against drug trafficking and organized violence. The White House repeatedly points to the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, now designated a foreign terrorist organization. It serves the government simultaneously as justification for harsh migration measures and for military strikes on suspected drug shipments in the Caribbean and the Pacific. Much is at stake for Washington. The indictment is meant to demonstrate that even heads of state are not beyond the reach of US law if, in the view of authorities, they enable or promote international crimes. Critics see this as a dangerous precedent that undermines state sovereignty and merges military force with criminal prosecution.

For Maduro himself, everything is at stake. In the event of a conviction, he faces decades behind bars, possibly imprisonment for the rest of his life. The trial, if it proceeds, will stretch over years, with legal battles, political tensions, and global attention.

We will accompany this historic process from the very beginning and report directly from New York.