The cases of Nicolás Maduro, the Venezuelan president, and his wife will move Monday from the secretive realm of military special operations into the mundane world of U.S. District Court in lower Manhattan, where at noon they are to stand before a judge and face charges of drug-trafficking conspiracy and other crimes.

Their appearance will be the first step in what undoubtedly will be a yearslong prosecution, after a stunning change of scene from Maduro’s presidential palace in Caracas to the grim and grimy reality of pretrial detention in a Brooklyn federal jail.

Because of the extraordinary nature of the case, what happens next will be predictable in some ways, and perhaps far less so in others.

The arraignment Monday will occur before the presiding judge in the case, Alvin K. Hellerstein, and Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, are expected to enter pleas of not guilty. The judge will almost certainly order them detained. And it could be well over a year before a jury is seated to weigh the evidence against them.

But the prosecution of a leader of a sovereign nation snatched from his country in a highly choreographed military operation will most likely lead to arguments seldom heard in an American courtroom. Maduro’s lawyers might challenge, for example, the legality of his arrest and removal to the United States. They also could argue that as Venezuela’s leader, he is immune from prosecution.

What to Expect

Such initial hearings are often brief. Although the proceedings can vary, the judge will advise Maduro and Flores of their rights and ask how they plead.

The indictment released Saturday charges Maduro with narco-terrorism conspiracy and conspiracy to import cocaine, among other counts. Flores is charged in the cocaine conspiracy. The charges carry stiff sentences if the defendants are convicted.

At the hearing, a prosecutor typically summarizes the evidence, such as recordings, documents and other materials seized in searches. There may be discussion of what kinds of motions the defense will file to challenge the government’s case.

The judge is likely to address the issue of pretrial detention, and under the circumstances, almost certainly will order that the defendants be held without bond pending trial. The defense can also raise concerns about conditions at the Metropolitan Detention Center, a troubled lockup that has held other high-profile detainees.

And the judge will ask the prosecutors and the defense lawyers how much time they will need to prepare for trial.

The Setting

The case will play out in the Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Court House, an imposing 27-story tower of granite, marble and oak on the edge of Chinatown. Security is always tight in and around the building, and Maduro’s presence there will doubtless bring a marked increase.

The court is part of the Southern District of New York, which has been the site of trials of accused terrorists, Mafia figures and corrupt politicians. A former Honduran president, Juan Orlando Hernández, was extradited to New York in 2022 and tried and convicted two years later in the courthouse. (Hernández was pardoned recently by President Donald Trump.)

The Players

Prosecutors with the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District, led by Jay Clayton, will handle the case of Maduro and Flores. It is being prosecuted by assistant U.S. attorneys assigned to the office’s National Security and International Narcotics Unit. The charges stemmed from a lengthy and extensive investigation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Defense lawyers play a pivotal role in any criminal case. But because the Maduro prosecution is sure to raise difficult and complex issues — from the legality of his arrest to sovereign immunity to disputes over the possible role of classified evidence — his choice of lawyers and the strategy they chart will be crucial.

It is unclear who will represent Maduro and Flores.

Hellerstein, 92, was appointed to the federal bench in 1998 by President Bill Clinton and recently presided over Trump’s attempts to move his Manhattan criminal conviction into federal court, a matter that is still pending.

The Stakes

For the government, the stakes of the prosecution of Maduro could hardly be higher. The Trump administration has made it clear that it went to extraordinary lengths to capture him in Caracas and bring him to New York to face trial, unleashing the full might of the U.S. military.

And the case is interwoven with aspects of Trump’s domestic and foreign policies — which, like the attack Saturday morning, have come under harsh criticism.

His focus on immigration has leaned heavily into a narrative that frequently cites the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua — which Trump has tied to Maduro — as one of the reasons to pursue mass deportations. At the same time, the administration has pointed to the gang to justify its campaign of deadly military strikes on small boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean that it says are hauling drugs linked to Venezuela. The administration has designated Tren de Aragua as a foreign terrorist organization.

At stake for Maduro is his freedom. If convicted, he could face between 30 years and life in prison.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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Venezuela’s ousted president, Nicolás Maduro, arrived in New York City late Saturday to be held on drug and weapon charges, hours after President Donald Trump said the United States had captured him and intended to “run the country.”

The U.S. military operation in Venezuela followed a monthslong campaign by Trump’s administration to oust the authoritarian leader. In U.S. cities, it has led to both protests against the military intervention and celebrations among some Venezuelan migrants over the ouster of Maduro.

Here’s what we know:

What happened?

The United States carried out “a large scale strike against Venezuela” in which Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured, Trump said.

Gen. Dan Caine, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at a news conference Saturday that Trump ordered the operation late Friday. The mission involved 150 aircraft that worked to dismantle Venezuelan air defenses so military helicopters could deliver troops to Caracas, the country’s capital, he said.

The mission took about two hours and 20 minutes and continued into early Saturday, when Maduro and Flores “gave up,” Caine said.

U.S. forces encountered significant resistance, Trump said. At least 80 people were killed, including military personnel and civilians, according to a senior Venezuelan official who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe preliminary reports. Cuban state media reported that 32 Cubans were killed in the U.S. attacks on Saturday. President Miguel Díaz-Canel of Cuba said the people were from Cuba’s armed forces or its Interior Ministry, on a mission at the request of Venezuela, according to state media.

No Americans were killed, Trump said. Two U.S. officials speaking on condition of anonymity said that about half a dozen soldiers were injured in the operation.

Did Trump have the authority to capture Maduro?

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said at a news conference Saturday that it would not have been possible to inform U.S. lawmakers in advance of the strike. He and Trump described the mission as a law enforcement operation, rather than a military action, which would have required greater congressional oversight.

Trump brushed aside concerns about the constitutionality of his administration’s actions during an interview on “Fox & Friends Weekend,” saying that Democrats who criticized him should praise the effort.

“They should say, ‘Great job,’” he said. “They shouldn’t say, ‘Oh, gee, maybe it’s not constitutional.’”

Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, called on the administration to immediately brief Congress on its legal justification and its plan for the region.

Maduro, a self-described socialist, had led Venezuela since 2013. The Biden administration had accused Maduro of stealing the election that kept him in power last year.

The U.N. Security Council will convene an emergency meeting Monday to discuss the U.S. strikes in Venezuela.

Who is in charge of Venezuela now?

Vladímir Padrino López, Venezuela’s defense minister, said in a speech Sunday that the government that was in place under Maduro was still in charge and that the Venezuelan military “will guarantee the governability of the country.”

Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, was sworn in as interim president in a secret ceremony Saturday, according to people close to the Venezuelan government. Padrino López said Venezuela’s Supreme Court ruled Rodríguez was the acting president.

The day before, Trump said the United States intended to “run the country” until a transition of power could take place, but he offered few details about how that would work. His remarks mostly focused on how U.S. interests would extract and sell Venezuela’s oil.

On Sunday, Rubio said the U.S. military would maintain a “quarantine” around Venezuela to prevent the entry and exit of oil tankers under U.S. sanctions and to maintain “leverage” on the country.

At a news conference, Trump said Rodríguez was “essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again.”

But in a live address to Venezuelans later Saturday, Rodríguez denounced the United States, saying, “There is only one president in this country, and his name is Nicolás Maduro Moros.” On Sunday night, she appeared to soften her tone toward the United States, raising the prospect of dialogue with the administration.

Rodríguez is known as an economic troubleshooter who helped orchestrate the country’s shift from corrupt socialism to similarly corrupt laissez-faire capitalism.

The main opposition leader, María Corina Machado, who had organized what was widely seen as a winning presidential campaign in 2024, earning her the Nobel Peace Prize this year, posted a statement asking that her political ally, Edmundo González, be recognized as Venezuela’s president immediately.

In his own video statement Sunday, González referred to himself as the president of Venezuela and called for political prisoners to be released.

What will happen to Maduro?

Maduro and Flores “will soon face the full wrath of American justice,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said.

Maduro and Flores landed in New York on Saturday afternoon to face drug charges, U.S. officials said. They were being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn and are scheduled to make their first appearance in court Monday at noon, according to the U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

A photo of Maduro in U.S. custody, released by Trump, shows him in handcuffs, wearing a black mask and headphones.

The attorney general posted an unsealed indictment charging him with narco-terrorism, cocaine importation conspiracies and possession of machine guns, charges that carry lengthy prison sentences if he is convicted.

The indictment appears similar to a 2020 indictment against Maduro, during Trump’s first term, which accused him of overseeing a violent drug organization known as Cartel de los Soles.

Analysts have said that Cartel de los Soles does not exist as a literal organization, and that the term has been used more broadly to describe the alleged involvement of high-ranking Venezuelan military officers in the drug trade. However, no evidence has been publicly disclosed showing Maduro directing the effort.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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By ANDREA RODRÍGUEZ

HAVANA (AP) — An American military operation in Venezuela killed 32 Cuban officers over the weekend, the Cuban government said Sunday in the first official death count provided of the American strikes in the South American nation.

The Cuban military and police officers were on a mission the Caribbean country’s military was carrying out at the request of Venezuela’s government, according to a statement read on Cuban state TV on Sunday night.

What the Cubans were working on in the South American nation was unclear, but Cuba is a close ally of Venezuela’s government and has sent military and police forces to assist in operations for years. Rumors of the deaths circulated on the island over the weekend.

“You know, a lot of Cubans were killed yesterday,” U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he flew Sunday night from Florida back to Washington. “There was a lot of death on the other side. No death on our side.”

The U.S. operation Saturday seized Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife to face prosecution on an indictment accusing them of participating in a narco-terrorism conspiracy.

While Venezuela’s government has acknowledged that a number of people died in the American blasts, they did not confirm how many were killed to The Associated Press.

Cuba’s government announced two days of mourning for the Cuban officers who were killed, and former president and revolutionary leader Raúl Castro and President Miguel Díaz-Canel sent condolences to their families. The names of the dead and the positions they held were not immediately disclosed by Cuban authorities.

“Faithful to their responsibilities for security and defense, our compatriots fulfilled their duty with dignity and heroism and fell after fierce resistance in direct combat against the attackers or as a result of the bombings of the facilities,” the official statement said.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, also pointed to Cuban involvement in Venezuela over the weekend, saying that Maduro’s internal security apparatus was headed by Cubans and that they were “propping up Maduro.”

“All the guards that help protect Maduro — this is well known — their whole spy agency, all that were full of Cubans,” Rubio said.

___

Associated Press reporters Megan Janetsky in Mexico City and Darlene Superville aboard Air Force One contributed to this report.

 

By ELAINE KURTENBACH

BANGKOK (AP) — Oil prices fell back Monday while the prices of precious metals surged as markets registered a mixed reaction to the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a weekend raid.

Share prices opened higher, with benchmarks in South Korea and Japan again setting fresh records. U.S. futures were flat after stocks eked out small gains Friday on Wall Street.

Shortly after trading began, U.S. benchmark crude oil rose slightly. But it later was trading 23 cents lower at $57.09 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, gave up 17 cents to $60.58 per barrel.

After years of neglect and international sanctions, Venezuela’s oil industry is in disrepair. It could take years and major investments before production can increase dramatically. But some analysts expect Venezuela could double or triple its current output of about 1.1 million barrels of oil a day to return to historic levels fairly quickly.

With oil levels already plentiful, crude has been trading at its lowest level in about six months.

In any case, the U.S. move was reverberating through financial markets as traders maneuvered to account for the uncertainty brought on President Donald Trump’s unusual military operation and his insistence that the U.S. will be running Venezuela following its Maduro’s ouster.

The price of gold rose 1.9%, while silver jumped 5.7%.

Such assets are often considered safe havens in times of geopolitical turmoil.

“Investors are happy to own risk, but they want insurance in the drawer. This is confidence with a hedge, not euphoria,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.

Share prices in Asia shot sharply higher.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 jumped 3% to 51,853.53. The index closed at a year end high for 2025 and only resumed trading on Monday.

“Looking at the environment surrounding the markets, continuously, there are various risk factors. We must keep an eye on geopolitical risks in Ukraine, the Middle East and East Asia, the U.S.-China trade war, monetary policies in other countries and their development, and corporate performance trends in Japan,” Hiromi Yamaji, CEO of the Japan Exchange Group, said in the traditional New Year opening ceremony.

South Korea’s Kospi surged 3.1% to 4,441.80. It had ended Friday with a record high close.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.1% to 8,733.30, while Taiwan’s benchmark climbed 2.9%.

In other trading early Monday, the dollar rose to 157.27 Japanese yen from 156.82 yen. The euro slipped to $1.1682 from $1.1726.

On Friday, U.S. stocks eked out small gains on Wall Street in a wobbly but quiet day of trading to kick off the new year.

The S&P 500 rose 0.2%, to 6,858.47, coming off a gain of more than 16% in 2025.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.7% to 48,382.39, while the Nasdaq composite fell less than 0.1%, to 23,235.63. The index was weighed down by a 2.2% loss for Microsoft and a 2.6% decline for Tesla, after it reported falling sales for a second year in a row.

Nvidia, Microsoft and Tesla are among the most valuable companies in the world and their outsized valuations give them more influence on the stock market’s direction. That includes sometimes pushing the market up and down from hour to hour.

Furniture companies gained ground following President Donald Trump’s move to delay increased tariffs on upholstered furniture. RH rose 8% and Wayfair rose 6.1%.

This week is the first full week of the new year. It will bring several closely watched economic updates, some of the last big updates the Fed sees before its next meeting at the end of January.

On the agenda are private reports on the status of the services sector, which is the largest part of the U.S. economy, along with consumer sentiment. Government reports on the job market will also be released. The hope is they’ll help paint a clearer picture of how various parts of the U.S. economy closed out 2025 and where it might be headed in 2026.

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