Deposed Maduro pleads not guilty after capture in shock US attack on Venezuela

<p>President protests innocence in US court as countries at UN meeting condemn Donald Trump’s ‘crime of aggression’</p><ul><li><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2026/jan/05/venezuela-live-updates-trump-us-interim-president-collaborate">Venezuela crisis – latest updates</a></p></li></ul><p>The deposed Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro pleaded not guilty to drugs, weapons and narco-terrorism charges on Monday, two days after his capture by US special forces in an operation ordered by Donald Trump that sent shockwaves around the world.</p><p>The brevity and formality of the arraignment hearing in federal court in Manhattan – barely 30 minutes during which Maduro was asked to confirm his name and that he understood <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/05/nicolas-maduro-venezuela-criminal-indictment">the four charges against him</a> – belied the far-reaching consequences of the US action.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/05/maduro-pleads-not-guilty">Continue reading...</a>