The United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York proposed on Tuesday (21) that the trial against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, accused of drug trafficking and cocaine importation, begin in June 2027.
“Accordingly, the parties jointly propose the following schedule for the presentation of evidence, pre-trial motions and the trial process (…) “Trial start: June 2027,” states the document addressed to Judge Alvin Hellerstein by federal prosecutor Jay Clayton.
The prosecution’s proposal was announced ahead of a hearing scheduled for this Wednesday (22), which will discuss the trial schedule against the Venezuelan president, who has been imprisoned in a federal penitentiary in Brooklyn for more than six months, after being kidnapped last January.
This is the third hearing to be held in New York since the couple were kidnapped from their Caracas residence on January 3, while the defense plans to present its first arguments in September and the government hopes to hand over most of the classified evidence in November.
Maduro and Flores pleaded not guilty in a New York court in January.
Last April, the United States authorized the Venezuelan government to pay the legal fees of lawyers defending the accused.
On January 3, 2026, the United States Armed Forces entered Venezuelan territory, carrying out an armed attack that left at least 100 people dead and resulted in the kidnapping of the Venezuelan head of state, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores, who were taken to New York.
Source: www.brasildefato.com.br
