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Venezuelan President\u00a0Nicolas Maduro<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 recently\u00a0abducted<\/a>\u00a0with his wife by US commandos from his home \u2013 has appeared in a federal courtroom in New York City for a hearing on alleged\u00a0\u201cnarco-terrorism\u201d and other charges<\/a>.<\/p>\n Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were brought before US District Judge Alvin K Hellerstein at 12pm (17:00 GMT) on Monday for a brief legal proceeding that kicks off a long legal battle over whether they can face trial in the United States.<\/p>\n Handcuffed and wearing blue jail uniforms, Maduro and his wife were led into the court by officers, and both put on headsets to hear the English-language proceeding as it was translated into Spanish.<\/p>\n Maduro pleaded not guilty in the US court, telling the judge: \u201cI was kidnapped. I am innocent and a decent man, the president of my country.\u201d<\/p>\n Across the street from the courthouse, the police separated a small but growing group of protesters from about a dozen pro-intervention demonstrators, including one man who pulled a Venezuelan flag away from those protesting the US abduction.<\/p>\n The left-wing leader, his wife, son and three others could face life in prison if convicted of allegedly working with drug cartels to facilitate the shipment of thousands of tons of cocaine into the country. Some observers say there is\u00a0no evidence linking him<\/a>\u00a0to cartels.<\/p>\n Maduro\u2019s lawyers said they\u2019ll contest the legality of his arrest, arguing he is immune from prosecution as a sovereign head of a foreign state, though he is not recognised as Venezuela\u2019s legitimate leader by the US and other nations around the world.<\/p>\n Flores also pleaded not guilty to US charges against her during the arraignment. Hellerstein ordered the Venezuelan leader to next appear in court for a hearing on March 17.<\/p>\n Near the end of the hearing, Maduro\u2019s attorney Barry J Pollack said his client \u201cis head of a sovereign state and entitled to the privilege\u201d that the status ensures.<\/p>\n Pollack said there were \u201cquestions about the legality of his military abduction\u201d, and there will be \u201cvoluminous\u201d pretrial filings to address those legal challenges.<\/p>\n Earlier, images showed the pair being led handcuffed and under heavy guard from a helicopter en route from a detention facility to the courthouse, two days after\u00a0they were forcibly removed<\/a>\u00a0from Caracas in a brazen US special forces operation.<\/p>\n \u201cThe United States arrested a narco-trafficker who is now going to stand trial in the United States,\u201d US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz told an emergency UN Security Council meeting about the US attack on Venezuela on Saturday.<\/p>\n Waltz accused Maduro of being \u201cresponsible for attacks against the people of the United States, for destabilising the Western Hemisphere, and illegitimately repressing the people of Venezuela\u201d.<\/p>\n Samuel Moncada, Venezuela\u2019s ambassador to the UN, accused the US of carrying out an illegal armed attack against his country.<\/p>\n Venezuela was subjected to bombing, the destruction of civilian infrastructure, the loss of civilian and military lives, and the \u201ckidnapping\u201d of Maduro and his wife, Moncada said.<\/p>\n The abduction of a sitting head of state breached a core norm of international law, the personal immunity of leaders in office, he added, warning that such actions set a dangerous precedent for all countries.<\/p>\n All eyes are on Venezuela\u2019s response to the swiftly moving events after US President\u00a0Donald Trump<\/a>\u00a0said late on Sunday the US is \u201cin charge\u201d of the South American nation, which has the world\u2019s largest proven oil reserves.<\/p>\n Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, meanwhile, was officially sworn in as interim president on Monday.<\/p>\n Rodriguez, a 56-year-old labour lawyer known for close connections to the private sector and her devotion to the ruling party, was sworn in by \u200bher brother Jorge, \u200cwho is the head of the National Assembly legislature.<\/p>\n Delcy Rodriguez initially took a defiant stand against the seizure of the president in what some observers labelled a return to \u201cUS gunboat diplomacy\u201d. But she has now\u00a0offered \u201cto collaborate\u201d<\/a>\u00a0with Washington.<\/p>\n One analyst said Venezuela\u2019s opposition appreciates the US intervention to remove Maduro from power, but is alarmed by Trump\u2019s comments about US plans to \u201crun\u201d Venezuela, apparently with members of his government.<\/p>\n \u201cTrump doesn\u2019t recognise the decision of the Venezuelan people. We are not a colony of the US. We are an independent country,\u201d Jose Manuel Puente, a professor at the Instituto de Estudios Superiores de Administracion, a private university in Caracas, told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to initiate a transition to democracy, to rebuild the institutions, to rebuild the economy, to rebuild the oil sector. And we don\u2019t see that from Trump until now.\u201d<\/p>\n Venezuela\u2019s National Assembly opened on Monday with lawmakers chanting \u201cLet\u2019s go Nico!\u201d as they denounced his abduction.<\/p>\n \u201cThe president of the United States, Mr Trump, claims to be the prosecutor, the judge, and the policeman of the world,\u201d senior lawmaker Fernando Soto Rojas told the assembly.<\/p>\n \u201cWe say: you will not succeed and we will ultimately deploy all our solidarity so that our legitimate president, Nicolas Maduro, returns victorious to Miraflores,\u201d the presidential palace, he added.<\/p>\n Rodriguez has served as Maduro\u2019s vice president since 2018, overseeing much of Venezuela\u2019s\u00a0oil-dependent economy<\/a>\u00a0and its feared intelligence service, and was next in the presidential line of succession.<\/p>\n She\u2019s part of a band of senior officials in Maduro\u2019s administration who now appear to control Venezuela, even as Trump and other US officials say they\u2019ll pressure the government to fall in line with their vision for the oil-rich nation.<\/p>\n On Sunday, some 2,000 Maduro supporters, including rifle-wielding men on motorcycles, rallied in Caracas with crowds shouting and waving Venezuelan flags. The Venezuelan military, loyal to Maduro, announced it recognised Rodriguez and urged calm.<\/p>\n\u2018Attacks\u2019 against US people<\/h2>\n
Vast oil wealth<\/h2>\n
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<\/picture><\/div>\n\u2018You will not succeed\u2019<\/h2>\n
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