US judge sets 2027 trial date for former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro

A U.S. federal judge has scheduled June 1, 2027, as the trial date for former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, who are facing drug trafficking and narcoterrorism charges in the United States. Maduro and Flores were apprehended by U.S. forces in Caracas in January 2026 and subsequently brought to New York to face indictment. Both have pleaded not guilty to allegations of conspiring to traffic thousands of tons of cocaine into the U.S..

The charges against Maduro include narcoterrorism conspiracy and cocaine importation conspiracy, which could carry a life sentence if he is convicted. His defense team intends to challenge the legality of his capture, which Maduro himself has labeled a "kidnapping," and will argue for sovereign immunity, claiming he should be immune from prosecution as a head of state. Pre-trial motions regarding these legal challenges are expected to be filed, with arguments scheduled for November.

Maduro and Flores have been held in a Brooklyn jail since their arrival in New York. The U.S. government, which stopped recognizing Maduro as Venezuela's legitimate president in 2019, has defended the January operation as a "surgical law enforcement operation".