Nicolás Maduro, the former Venezuelan president held in a Brooklyn federal jail since a US military raid seized him from his Caracas home in January, has asked a Manhattan federal judge to throw out criminal drug trafficking charges against him, arguing that international law grants sitting heads of state immunity from prosecution in foreign courts. His wife, Cilia Flores, filed a parallel motion seeking the same protection.
Maduro's attorney, Barry Pollack, argued in papers filed before District Judge Alvin Hellerstein on Wednesday that the prosecution is both unprecedented and unlawful. "No American court has ever presided over the criminal trial of a foreign leader who was recognised by their own country as the sitting head of state at the time the charges were brought," the legal team wrote, adding that this reflects "a rule older than the common law." Pollack also contended that even if Maduro were not entitled to head-of-state immunity, the actions he is accused of fall under conduct-based sovereign immunity, since they would have been carried out in his official capacity. Maduro "vehemently denies" the allegations and has pleaded not guilty; if the dismissal effort fails, he and Flores are scheduled to stand trial on 1 June 2027, facing potential life sentences for allegedly conspiring to ship thousands of tonnes of cocaine into the United States.
The case raises a genuinely novel legal question: whether US courts will apply the longstanding international-law principle of head-of-state immunity in a criminal setting. Legal experts, however, say Maduro faces a steep challenge. Washington stopped recognising him as Venezuela's legitimate president in 2019, after a 2018 election it deemed fraudulent, and again rejected his 2024 re-election. US courts generally defer to the executive branch on questions of foreign recognition. The most relevant precedent is unfavourable: in 1990, a federal judge in Miami rejected a similar immunity claim by Manuel Noriega, the former Panamanian military leader, partly because he never formally held the title of president.
Pollack sought to distinguish that precedent, noting that the US government does not dispute that Maduro held the office of president — only that he lacked legitimacy after 2019. He also highlighted an apparent contradiction: Washington has effectively recognised Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro's former vice president, as Venezuela's interim leader, even though she was appointed to that position by Maduro himself. Since his capture, Rodríguez has quietly expanded cooperation with the Trump administration, and last month the two governments reached a deal that would give the US control over roughly one-fifth of Venezuela's vast oil reserves.
Prosecutors from the Manhattan US Attorney's office, which brought the original charges six years ago against Maduro and numerous alleged co-conspirators, have until 2 October to respond to the dismissal motion. Judge Hellerstein will hold a hearing on the matter on 17 November. The Trump administration has described the January operation as a "surgical law enforcement action"; Maduro has called it a kidnapping and refers to himself as a prisoner of war.