Ousted Maduro pleads not guilty to US drug charges

Former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro entered a not guilty plea on Monday regarding drug charges. This came after President Donald Trump’s surprising capture of him, which unsettled global leaders and left officials in Caracas trying to regroup. “I am innocent. I am not guilty. I am a decent man. I am still president of my country,” said the 63-year-old Maduro through an interpreter, before U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein interrupted him in a Manhattan federal court. Maduro's wife, Cilia Flores, also pleaded not guilty. The court set the next date for March 17. Outside the courthouse, dozens of supporters and opponents of Maduro gathered ahead of the half-hour hearing. Later that day in Caracas, Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, was sworn in as the interim president of Venezuela. She voiced support for Maduro but did not indicate any plans to challenge the U.S. actions. A recent U.S. intelligence report suggested that Rodriguez was well-positioned to lead a temporary government while Maduro was absent. It noted that opposition figures like Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado or former presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez would likely struggle to gain support, according to the Wall Street Journal, which cited sources familiar with the classified assessment. Although many anti-Maduro activists thought this would be their chance, Trump seemed to have sidelined the Venezuelan opposition for the moment. Instead, he indicated that Rodriguez might be open to collaborating with Washington. In Caracas, senior officials from Maduro’s government, which has been in power for 13 years, still control the South American nation of 30 million people. They alternate between showing defiance and hinting at possible cooperation with the Trump administration. The intelligence report concluded that Rodriguez, along with the ministers of interior and defense, were among the few Venezuelan leaders capable of maintaining order in a government filled with ideological opponents of the U.S., according to the Wall Street Journal.