在入狱三个月后，被驱逐的委内瑞拉总统尼古拉斯·马杜罗(Nicolas Maduro)看起来越来越瘦，头发也越来越白，但他仍在指挥，周四他出现在曼哈顿的联邦法院参加一次情况会议。
马杜罗-脚踝被铐着，在橙色衬衫外面穿着米色工作服-向画廊点头，用英语说“早上好”。
法官阿尔文·赫勒斯坦表示，他不会驳回马杜罗面临的毒品恐怖主义和其他指控，但似乎在努力确保马杜罗获得足够的律师。
辩方辩称，此案必须被驳回，因为财政部没有给予委内瑞拉政府特别许可，以受美国制裁的资金资助马杜罗的辩护。
“我不会放弃这个案子，”赫勒斯坦说。然而，法官质疑制裁的国家安全必要性，因为马杜罗不再掌权，他和他的妻子Cilia Flores被美国拘留。
赫勒斯坦说:“我认为自卫的权利对国家安全没有持久的利益。“辩护权至高无上。”
一名联邦检察官表示，马杜罗被指控掠夺国家财富后，不应被允许使用委内瑞拉的资金。
“被告没有权利花第三方的钱，”检察官凯尔·沃什巴说。
辩护律师巴里·波拉克(Barry Pollack)表示，法院指定的律师将影响马杜罗的辩护质量，因为纳税人资助的资源往往有限。
波拉克说，“针对这些被告的指控发生在委内瑞拉。”
赫勒斯坦同意，为马杜罗辩护将付出“巨大代价”，并耗尽大多数公共辩护人的资源。
“说实话，我们没有这样的案例，”赫勒斯坦说。
美国总统唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)周四在一次内阁会议上表示，他希望对马杜罗提出更多指控，并表示马杜罗应该因帮助运送人员和毒品进入美国而受到指控。
“我希望在某个时候会提出指控，”特朗普说。
“他把他的监狱清空到我国，是进入我国的毒品的主要供应者。…我可以想象还会有其他审判，”特朗普说。
马杜罗和他的妻子不认罪联邦费用包括毒品恐怖主义，他们的律师此后一直在推动驳回该案，因为他们担心特朗普政府正在阻止委内瑞拉政府支付他们的律师费。
十多年来，马杜罗作为委内瑞拉总统享受着富裕的生活，住在加拉加斯的新古典主义宫殿里，据报道积累了数百万的净资产。据称，他拥有多处豪宅、两架私人飞机、价值数百万的珠宝和现金、一个马场和一支豪华车队。
但他正在争取驳回他的案件，理由是他没有足够的钱支付自己的法律辩护费用-他的律师认为，如果委内瑞拉因美国对该国的制裁而无法支付律师费用，他的正当程序权利将受到侵犯。
马杜罗在一份宣誓声明中说:“我知道委内瑞拉政府准备为我的法律辩护提供资金，我期待它会这样做。”"我依赖于这种期望，无力支付自己的法律辩护费用."
随着特朗普政府逐渐缓和关系对于委内瑞拉，周四的听证会标志着自今年1月特种作战部队在加拉加斯抓获他以来，这位被驱逐的委内瑞拉领导人第二次出现在美国法庭上。
司法部最初于2020年3月对马杜罗和其他14名委内瑞拉官员提出起诉，认为他们与贩毒集团合谋允许可卡因流入美国，犯下了毒品恐怖主义罪行。
近六年后，检察官提交了一份新的起诉书，指控马杜罗、马杜罗的儿子弗洛雷斯和其他三人犯有毒品恐怖主义阴谋、可卡因进口阴谋和武器罪。
起诉书称，马杜罗“坐在一个腐败、非法的政府之上，几十年来，该政府利用政府权力保护和促进非法活动，包括贩毒”。
检察官指控马杜罗允许“可卡因推动的腐败为自己的利益而猖獗”，包括为贩毒者和洗钱者提供外交掩护。马杜罗不认罪，否认参与贩毒。
起诉书称:“(马杜罗)处于腐败的最前沿，并与他的同谋合作，利用他非法获得的权力和他腐蚀的机构，向美国运输数千吨可卡因。”
Ousted Venezuelan President Maduro returns to court, judge says he won't dismiss case
After three months in jail, ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro appeared thinner and grayer, but still in command, as he appeared in federal court in Manhattan for a status conference on Thursday.
Maduro -- was shackled at the ankles and wearing a beige smock over an orange shirt -- nodded to the gallery and said “good morning,” in English.
Judge Alvin Hellerstein said he would not dismiss the narcoterrorism and other charges Maduro faces, but appeared to wrestle with how to assure Maduro had access to sufficient counsel.
The defense argued the case must be tossed because the Treasury Department had not given the government of Venezuela a special license to fund Maduro’s defense with funds subject to U.S. sanctions.
"I'm not going to dismiss the case," Hellerstein said.However, the judge questioned the national security need for sanctions now that Maduro is no longer in charge and he and his wife, Cilia Flores, are in American custody.
"I see no abiding interest in national security in the right to defend yourself," Hellerstein said. "The right to defend is paramount."
A federal prosecutor said Maduro should not be allowed to use Venezuelan funds after he was accused of plundering the country’s wealth.
"A defendant has no right to spend a third party's money," prosecutor Kyle Wirshba said.
Defense attorney Barry Pollack said the quality of Maduro’s defense would suffer with court-appointed counsel, whose taxpayer-funded resources are often limited.
Pollack said the allegations "against these defendants occurred in Venezuela."
Hellerstein agreed that defending Maduro would come at "great expense" and deplete the resources of most public defenders.
"Truthfully, we have no case like this," Hellerstein said.
President Donald Trump said at a Cabinet meeting Thursday that he was hopeful that additional charges will be brought against Maduro and said Maduro should be charged for facilitating the transport of people and drugs into the U.S.
"I hope that charge will be brought at some point," Trump said.
"He emptied his prisons into our country and was a major purveyor of drugs coming into our country. … I would imagine there are other trials coming," Trump said.
Maduro and his wife pleaded not guilty tofederal chargesincluding narco-terrorism during their first appearance in court in January, and their attorneys have since pushed to have the case dismissed over concerns that the Trump administration is blocking the Venezuelan government from paying their legal fees.
For more than a decade, Maduro enjoyed an opulent life as Venezuela's president, living in the neoclassical palace in Caracas and accruing a net worth reportedly in the millions.He allegedly owned multiple mansions, two private jets, millions in jewelry and cash, a horse farm, and a fleet of luxury vehicles.
But he's pushing to have his case dismissed by arguing he doesn't have enough money to pay for his own legal defense -- and his lawyers argue his due process rights will be violated if Venezuela is unable to pay for his lawyers because of U.S. sanctions on the country.
"I understand that the government of Venezuela is prepared to fund my legal defense and it is my expectation that it will," Maduro said in a sworn declaration. "I have relied on this expectation and cannot afford to pay for my own legal defense."
As the Trump administration graduallywarms relationswith Venezuela, Thursday's hearing marks the second time that the ousted Venezuelan leader has appeared in a U.S. courtroom since special operations forces captured him in Caracas in January.
The Department of Justice initially brought an indictment against Maduro and 14 other Venezuelan officials in March of 2020, arguing they committed narco-terrorism by conspiring with drug cartels to allow the flow of cocaine into the United States.
Nearly six years later, prosecutors filed a new indictment charging Maduro, Flores, Maduro's son, and three others with narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy and weapons offenses.
Maduro "sits atop a corrupt, illegitimate government that, for decades, has leveraged government power to protect and promote illegal activity, including drug trafficking," the indictment said.
Prosecutors alleged that Maduro allowed "cocaine-fueled corruption to flourish for his own benefit," including by providing diplomatic cover to drug traffickers and money launderers.Maduro has pleaded not guilty and denies being involved in drug trafficking.
"[Maduro] is at the forefront of that corruption and has partnered with his co-conspirators to use his illegally obtained authority and the institutions he corroded to transport thousands of tons of cocaine to the United States," the indictment said.
