Maduro set to appear in US courtroom on drug trafficking charges
AP News••general
Key Points:
- Deposed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is set to appear in a U.S. courtroom for the first time on narco-terrorism charges, marking the start of a potentially lengthy legal battle over his trial eligibility in the U.S.
- Maduro and his wife were transported under armed guard from a Brooklyn jail to a Manhattan courthouse, where his lawyers are expected to argue his immunity as a sovereign head of state, a defense historically unsuccessful in similar cases.
- The U.S. captured Maduro in a military operation, accusing him and his associates of collaborating with drug cartels to traffic cocaine into the U.S., with charges including ordering kidnappings and murders related to drug operations.
- Venezuela’s interim president has demanded Maduro’s return, while
