Toppled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro pleaded not guilty on Monday to narcotics charges after President Donald Trump’s stunning capture of him rattled world leaders and left officials in Caracas scrambling to regroup.
“I am innocent. I am not guilty. I am a decent man. I am still president of my country,” Maduro, 63, said through an interpreter, before being cut off by U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein in Manhattan federal court.
Maduro’s wife Cilia Flores also pleaded not guilty. The next court date was set for March 17.
I don’t know enough about the guy or Venezuela to really have an opinion on their situation; but his guilt/innocence under US law isn’t relevant. The US has 0 jurisdiction to impose it’s laws on other nations.
This is purely a kidnapping and an act of war.
Jurisdiction and laws are irrelevant. It’s is expressly (per Stephen Miller) because of capability, not justification. Until we are militarily unable to do regime change, invasions, war crimes, and murder, we will continue to do so.
Common law actually doesn’t limit its reach to only domestic actions. U.S. laws can apply to anything anywhere in the world, as long as the law explicitly says it applies outside of domestic contexts. It’s the only reason why the courts are even entertaining a trial. Drug stuff is absolutely on that list along with fraud and statutory rape.
That’s for acts committed by Americans or on American soil.
Nope! Common law lets Congress make laws that can operate anywhere. This is literally true.
There’s international law but I don’t know if anything applicable here affects the U.S.
‘Toppled’ because snatching someone from their house is how you change an entire government’s structure.
I have little opinion of Maduro since I don’t honestly know a whole lot of him, but I do know I have opinions about our own loon in chief who thinks it’s reasonable to make up fake justifications to militarily steal resources from other countries that we don’t even really need.
Please don’t insult loons by association, they’re beautiful birds
Naw, somebody paid him $5MM to do it.
Careful now that word is not allowed in the mainstream media
US: Maduro is the head of a drug cartel!
US captures Maduro: That cartel doesn’t actually exist.
… interesting play. What is that going to mean for this case?
