By Luc Cohen
NEW YORK, July 22 (Reuters) - Venezuela’s ousted President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores are due back in a U.S. court on Wednesday for a hearing over the upcoming schedule in their drug trafficking case, including a possible June 2027 trial start date.
The hearing before U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, scheduled to start at noon ET (1600 GMT) in Manhattan federal court, could shed light on the next steps in one of the most high-profile and consequential criminal cases in recent U.S. history.
U.S. Special Forces captured Maduro and Flores at their heavily guarded home in Caracas during a January 3 nighttime raid ordered by President Donald Trump.
They were brought to New York, where they had been indicted on charges of using their leadership positions in the oil-rich South American country to facilitate cocaine shipments. They have pleaded not guilty, and no trial date has been set.
In a court filing on Tuesday night, prosecutors with the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s office and Maduro’s defense lawyers proposed a June 2027 start to the trial. Hellerstein must ultimately set the schedule, and both parties said they may seek adjustments.
MADURO MAY ARGUE HEAD OF STATE IMMUNITY
In the filing, lawyers for both sides proposed that Maduro’s first round of legal motions to try to have the case dismissed would be due on September 2. They said that would likely include a motion to dismiss the case on the basis that he should be immune from prosecution as the head of a sovereign state.
During Maduro’s first court appearance on January 5, his defense lawyer Barry Pollack suggested he could also challenge the indictment on the basis that Maduro’s capture may not have been legal.
Maduro, a socialist who had an antagonistic relationship with Washington while leading Venezuela from 2013 until his capture, referred to himself as a “prisoner of war” during his January 5 appearance. He has long accused the United States of seeking his ouster to gain greater control of the OPEC nation’s vast oil reserves.
The United States calls Maduro a corrupt dictator whose mismanagement of the economy led to an economic collapse, and accuses him of rigging his reelection votes in 2018 and 2024. It stopped recognizing him as Venezuela’s legitimate president in 2019.
In an advisory opinion ahead of the January raid, the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel said it would be lawful for Trump to unilaterally order the operation because it served an important national interest and did not rise to the level of a war that would require congressional authorization.
In Tuesday’s filing, lawyers for both sides said Maduro could file a second round of legal motions by January 11, 2027, after prosecutors hand over any classified evidence for the defense’s review.
WASHINGTON-CARACAS TIES HAVE IMPROVED
Maduro was last in court on March 26 for a hearing over the U.S. government’s prohibition on Venezuela’s government paying Maduro’s legal fees. The dispute was resolved a month later, when the U.S. government agreed to modify its financial sanctions on Venezuela to allow the government to pay the fees.
Venezuela has been run since Maduro’s capture by his former Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, who has established closer ties with the Trump administration.
Washington has eased sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry, and foreign companies have expanded oil and gas projects in the country.
The U.S. military has provided relief assistance after two earthquakes struck the country’s coast last month, killing more than 5,000 people.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Rod Nickel)
