Ousted Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro smiles and waves in court as he and wife face charges

A carefree Nicolas Maduro smiled, waved and even joked around in a New York courtroom today - as a judge set a date for the ousted Venezuelan leader and his wife's drug trafficking trial to get underway.   

Maduro, 63, and his wife, Cilia Flores, 69, appeared for a 15-minute hearing at the federal court in Manhattan after they were each charged with conspiracy to traffic drugs through Venezuela to the United States.

The strongman was spotted joking with his lawyer that he looked ‘muy serio’ - or very serious - as the attorney walked into the packed courtroom for what is one of the most consequential criminal cases in recent US history.  

Sporting beige prison garb and a new tightly-shaved haircut that made his face look thinner than ever, Maduro waved and nodded to the public gallery as he was escorted in without shackles or cuffs. 

Both Maduro and his wife, who have pleaded not guilty, donned headphones as they listened to a translator and took notes as the brief hearing got underway. 

Maduro's defense lawyer Barry Pollack said during the hearing that he would seek to dismiss the case on the basis that the ousted leader should be immune from prosecution as the head of a sovereign state. 

In a letter filed ahead of the hearing, prosecutors said they expected both defendants to file a ‘motion claiming immunity in this case’. 

US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein set the trial date for June 1, 2027 at the request of lawyers on both sides.

Under the approved trial schedule, defense lawyers will begin filing motions in early September to challenge the indictment. 

The couple have been holed up in the grim Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn ever since US Special Forces dramatically arrested them on their home soil back in January.

Since then, the Trump administration has been effectively running the country with its interim President Delcy Rodriguez, one of Maduro’s close allies, nominally in charge.

Maduro and Flores, who face life in prison if convicted, are accused of orchestrating the kidnappings and murders of those who stood in their way, including a drug boss in Caracas, of their alleged drug trafficking.

According to the indictment, Maduro and Flores engaged in a ‘relentless campaign of cocaine trafficking’ to the US. 

No further details were given about the immunity fight but during previous hearings Maduro has described himself as a ‘prisoner of war’ and claimed he was ‘kidnapped’ from his home country. 

Maduro also claimed he was still President of Venezuela, which means he would be immune from prosecution in another country’s courts under international law, a principle which has been held up by the US Department of State. 

But the picture is complicated because since Maduro’s ousting, the US has taken control of large parts of the Venezuelan government with Secretary of State Marco Rubio reportedly controlling the country’s finances and the distribution of its natural resources. 

Rodriguez was sworn in shortly after Maduro’s capture but she has called for his release and said he is still President of Venezuela. 

Speaking on Monday before departing for the Philippines for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit, Rubio said that the transition process away from the Maduro regime had begun.

Opposition leaders had met with Maduro’s officials and formal talks about a transition will begin in August, however it is unclear if elections will take place soon.

Another potential twist is that, according to a report in the New York Times, the case could take a ‘hairpin turn’ if Maduro claims that the court is not the right venue for the case. 

Maduro's lawyers could claim that an independent court of arbitration should be overseeing the matter under a 1922 extradition treaty between the US and Venezuela. 

To fight his case, Maduro has hired attorney Barry Pollack, whose previous clients include Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.

Pollack is set to see the case to trial after the US government allowed the Venezuelan government to pay him.

The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) initially declined to issue a waiver to Maduro due to sanctions that are in place against Caracas, but amended it after the last hearing in March.

Meanwhile, the hearing will also give the public a chance to see how Flores and Maduro are coping with their treatment inside the harsh prison conditions. 

Former inmates have said that the MDC is like ‘hell on Earth’ and Maduro and his wife are likely to spend 23 hours a day in solitary confinement in a cell.

In the past MDC prisoners have complained about unsanitary conditions and inedible food that was microwaved into the plastic container it came in.

Among those who have been held at the prison include: Ghislaine Maxwell, R Kelly and crypto fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried.

During Maxwell’s detention at the MDC before her 2021 trial for child sex trafficking, she claimed that her hair was falling out from the stress of the conditions.