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ISC Stormcast For Monday, January 5th, 2026 https://isc.sans.edu/podcastdetail/9752
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‘I’m a prisoner of war’
The sound of clanking leg shackles could be heard moments before Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro walked into the door of a New York City courtroom for the first time.
He then told packed rows of reporters and the public that he had just been “kidnapped”.
Minutes after his entrance, the Judge Alvin Hellerstein asked Maduro to confirm his identity so the proceedings could start.
“I am, sir, Nicolás Maduro. I am president of the Republic of Venezuela and I am here kidnapped since January 3rd,” he told the court in a calm Spanish before an interpreter translated for the court. “I was captured at my home in Caracas, Venezuela.”
The 92-year-old judge quickly interjected to tell Maduro that there would be a “time and a place to get into all of this”.
During the dramatic 40-minute arraignment on Monday afternoon, Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, pleaded not guilty to drugs and weapon charges.
“I’m innocent. I’m a decent man,” Maduro said, with Flores adding that she was “completely innocent”.
The 63-year-old and his wife were transferred to a New York jail after they were arrested by US forces at their compound in Venezuela on Saturday, as part of a surprise overnight operation that also saw strikes on military bases.
Dressed in blue and orange jail shirts and khaki pants, the two wore headphones to listen to a Spanish translation during the hearing, an attorney sitting between them. Maduro took meticulous notes on a yellow legal pad that he asked a judge to confirm that he could keep with him after the hearing.
When Maduro walked into the room – the same federal courtroom where Sean “Diddy” Combs was tried and convicted just months earlier – he turned around to nod at several members of the audience and greet them.
He maintained this calm and expressionless demeanour during the proceedings, even at the end, when a man watching from the public area suddenly shouted that Maduro would “pay” for his crimes.
“I’m a president and prisoner of war,” he shouted towards the man in the audience in Spanish. The man was then escorted out of the room in tears.
The proceedings were emotional for others in the court as well. Maibort Petit, a reporter from Venezuela who has covered Maduro’s administration, said the US missile strikes during Maduro’s arrest damaged her family home near Fuerte Tiuna in Caracas.
She said it was surreal to watch her former leader escorted into court in prison garb by US marshals.
Maduro’s wife, Flores, was much quieter, with bandages near her eyes and forehead for injuries her lawyers said she sustained during their weekend arrest.
She spoke softly with her blonde hair tied back in a bun while her lawyers asked that she be given proper medical treatment, including an xray of potentially bruised ribs and a fracture.
Maduro and his wife did not seek bail during the proceedings, but can do so at a later date, meaning they will remain in federal custody.
The US has accused Maduro of narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices.
Maduro was charged alongside his wife, son and several others. The next court hearing in the case has been scheduled for 17 March.
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Venezuela swears in interim leader after Maduro appears in court
Fiona Nimoniand
Madeline Halpert
Getty ImagesDelcy Rodriguez was sworn in as the interim president of Venezuela on Monday Delcy Rodriguez has been sworn in as Venezuela’s interim president in a parliamentary session that began with demands for the release from US custody of ousted leader Nicolas Maduro.
Rodriguez, 56, vice president since 2018, said she was pained by what she called the “kidnapping” of Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores who were seized by US forces in an overnight raid on Saturday.
In dramatic scenes inside a New York court room two hours earlier, Maduro insisted he was still the president of Venezuela as he pleaded not guilty to four charges of drug trafficking and terrorism.
Meanwhile the US faced sharp criticism at the UN, but the US ambassador said the largest energy reserves in the world could not be left in the hands of an illegitimate leader, a “fugitive from justice”.
Before the court appearance, the UN Security Council held an emergency session to discuss the situation in Venezuela.
The ambassador for Venezuela, Samuel Moncada, said his country had been the target of an “illegitimate armed attack lacking any legal justification”.
The US ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, justified the attack by describing Maduro as “an illegitimate so-called president”.
Waltz added that the US had carried out a “surgical law enforcement operation” to apprehend Maduro, whom he is also referred to as a “fugitive from justice”.
Maduro has been accused of narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices.
During Monday afternoon’s court appearance, a member of the public began to yell in Spanish at Maduro that he would “pay” for what he had done.
Maduro turned to him and replied that he was a “kidnapped president” and a “prisoner of war” before being escorted out in shackles behind his wife through the back court door.
“I’m a decent man. I am still president of my country,” Maduro said earlier during the 30-minute hearing.
Judge Alvin Hellerstein, 92, interjected to tell Maduro that there would be a “time and a place to get into all of this”.
Getty ImagesA supporter of ousted Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro carry his portrait during a rally outside the National Assembly in Caracas on. Speaking just hours after Saturday’s attack – which saw over 150 aircraft and 200 US personnel enter Venezuela – Trump had vowed the US would “run” Venezuela until “a safe and proper and judicious transition” was possible.
He also promised US oil companies would move into the country to fix infrastructure “and start making money for the country”.
But despite the US president’s claims, Maduro’s allies remain in charge.
In comments made to the US magazine The Atlantic on Sunday once it became clear Rodriguez would be sworn in, Trump warned she could “pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro” if she “doesn’t do what’s right”.
During a cabinet meeting, Rodriguez indicated her government would engage in some cooperation with the US, saying: “We invite the US government to collaborate with us on an agenda of co-operation orientated towards shared development within the framework of international law.”
Thousands of Venezuelans gathered outside the Federal Legislative Palace to show support for Maduro, his wife and the interim president Rodriguez as she was sworn in.
Speaking after taking her oath, Rodriguez told the National Assembly she did so “with pain” because of the suffering caused by “illegitimate military aggression”.
She vowed to guarantee the peace of the country, “the spiritual tranquillity of our people, the economic and social tranquillity of our people”.
The assembly also heard from Maduro’s son who expressed his support for his parents – saying that they “will return” to Venezuela.
He also offered his “unconditional support” to Rodriguez.
The next court hearing in Maduro’s case has been scheduled for 17 March.
