Jan. 6, 2026
"DICTATOR DOWN: MADURO CAPTURED, ARRAIGNED & FACING LIFE IN PRISON"
Reid Carter covers the most audacious military operation since Noriega. Saturday morning, Delta Force and FBI agents raided Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro's fortified compound in Caracas while US forces disabled air defenses and cut power to the capital. Maduro and wife Cilia Flores captured attempting to reach their safe room. Transported to USS Iwo Jima, then Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center. Yesterday: arraignment before Judge Alvin Hellerstein on drug trafficking charges carrying life imprisonment. Maduro's lawyers will argue sovereign immunity. Legal experts say it won't work. The Noriega playbook applies. America's most wanted dictator finally faces American justice.
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WEBVTT
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Callaroga Shark Media, good morning, I'm Reed Carter. Tuesday, January sixth,
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twenty twenty six. Three days ago, the United States of
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America did something it hasn't done since nineteen eighty nine.
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We invaded a foreign country, captured its president, and brought
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him to New York to face American justice. Saturday, January third,
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two am local time, Caracas, Venezuela, Nicholas Maduro and his
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wife Celia Flores were asleep in their heavily fortified compound
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when over one hundred and fifty US aircraft launched from
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twenty bases across the Western Hemisphere. Delta Force Operators FBI
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Hostage Rescue Team Special Operations helicopters flying one hundred feet
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above the water to avoid radar. The United States disabled
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Venezuelan air defenses, cut power to the entire capital city.
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Then the assault teams moved in. Maduro and Flores tried
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to reach their steel reinforced safe room. Didn't make it,
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couldn't seal the door in time. Captured in their pajamas,
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loaded onto helicopters, flown to the uss Ewojima waiting offshore,
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then transported to Stuart Air National Guard Base, in New York.
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By Sunday night, the man who ruled Venezuela for over
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a decade was sitting in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn,
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same facility that held Jeffrey Epstein, same facility where Sean
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Diddy Comb's awaited his trial. Yesterday, Nicholas Maduro stood before
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a federal judge in Manhattan, charged with narco terrorism, conspiracy,
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cocaine importation, conspiracy, weapons charges, facing life in prison. His
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lawyers will argue he's immune from prosecution as a sovereign
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head of state. They'll argue the arrest violated international law.
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They'll argue the court has no jurisdiction. Those arguments failed
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thirty six years ago. When we use the same playbook
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on Manuel Noriega, they'll fail again. I'm read Carter today,
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Operation Absolute Resolve, the capture of Nicholas Maduro, the charges,
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the arraignment, and why America's most wanted dictator is about
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to learn that sovereign immunity doesn't protect drug traffickers. This
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is celebrity trials. Let me paint you the picture of
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what happens. Saturday morning, Thursday night, January two, President Trump
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is at Marra A Lago the operation has been planned
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for months. Everything is in position. At ten forty six
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pm Eastern time, Trump gives the final authorization. Operation Absolute
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Resolve is a go. Over one hundred and fifty aircraft
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begin launching from twenty bases across the Western Hemisphere. Fighter jets,
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refueling tankers, electronic warfare planes, special operations, helicopters. The largest
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coordinated military operation in Latin America since the invade of
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Panama in nineteen eighty nine. The target Nicolas Maduro Moros,
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sixty two years old, President of Venezuela since twenty thirteen,
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dictator who refused to leave power after losing the twenty
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twenty four election, and, according to the United States Department
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of Justice, one of the most prolific drug traffickers in
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the Western Hemisphere. March twenty twenty, the Trump administration unsealed
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an indictment charging Maduro and fourteen co conspirators with narco
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terrorism conspiracy. Alleged they partnered with the FARK, the Sineloa Cartel,
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and a group called the Cartel of the Suns, Venezuelan
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military officers who used their positions to facilitate cocaine shipments.
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The US offered a fifty million dollar bounty for information
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leading to Maduro's arrest. For nearly six years, that bounty
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sat uncollected. Maduro stayed in power, protected by the Venezuelan military,
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protected by Cuban intelligence officers, inbdded throughout his security apparatus,
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protected by geography. You can't exactly extradite someone who controls
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an entire country. Until Saturday, two am Local time, Caracas
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plunges into darkness. US electronic warfare aircraft have disabled Venezuelan
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air defenses and cut power to the capitol for the
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second time in six years. The entire city goes black,
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But this time it's not infrastructure failure. It's the opening
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move of an invasion. Special Operations helicopters cross the coast,
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flying one hundred feet above the water, below radar silent
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inside Delta Force operators and FBI hostage Rescue team agents.
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Their mission is simple, capture Maduro alive, bring him to
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American justice. Maduro's compound is heavily fortified, multiple security perimeters,
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armed guards, communications equipment, and a steel reinforced safe room
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designed to withstand exactly this kind of assault. The helicopter's
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land the assault begins, flash bangs, breaching charges, operators moving
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through the compound with night vision and suppressed weapons. Maduro
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and his wife Celia Flores, hear the commotion try to
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reach the safe room. They almost make it, but they
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can't seal the door in time. Delta force is there.
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The door won't close. The most powerful man in Venezuela
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is caught in his pajamas with nowhere to run. Both
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are secured, flexcuffed, loaded onto helicopters flown off shore to
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the USS Ewojima, an amphibious assault ship waiting in international waters.
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The casualties. Venezuela claims approximately eighty people died during the
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operation Cuba and this is remarkable. Cuba officially confirmed thirty
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two Cuban military and intelligence personnel were killed in direct
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combat defending Maduro. That's a rare public admission that Cuban
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forces were embedded in Venezuela's security apparatus, something everyone knew
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but Havana never acknowledged. Several US personnel were injured, none killed.
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One helicopter was struck but continued the mission. From the Ewojima.
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Maduro and Flores were flown to Stuart Air National Guard
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Base in New York, then transported by motorcade to the
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Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. By Sunday night, the man
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who ruled Venezuela with an iron fist was wearing a
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prison jumpsuit in the same facility that housed Jeffrey Epstein.
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Make it make sense. For six years, Maduro thumbed his
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nose at American justice, stole an election, starved as people,
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trafficked cocaine by the ton, and in one night Delta
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Force put him in handcuffs and flew him to Brooklyn.
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Sometimes justice comes from a jury, Sometimes it comes from
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a helicopter. At two a m. Let's talk about what
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Maduro is actually charged with. The superseding indictment was unsealed
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Saturday morning in the Southern District of New York four counts,
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each one carrying decksades in prison. Count one Narco terrorism conspiracy.
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The indictment alleges Maduro participated in a twenty five year
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conspiracy to traffic thousands of tons of cocaine into the
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United States, not hundreds of kilos, not even hundreds of tons,
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thousands of tons, working with the FARC, the Revolutionary Armed
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Forces of Columbia, the Sineloa Cartel, the Trend de Aragua gang,
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and the Cartel of the Suns. Venezuelan military officers who
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use their positions to move drugs. Count two. Cocaine importation conspiracy,
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same underlying conduct, different statute. This one specifically targets the
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importation of massive quantities of cocaine into American territory. Counts
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three to four. Weapons charges possession of machine guns and
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destructive devices, conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices.
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These charges relate to the armed protection Maduro allegedly provided
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to drug shipments using Venezuelan military assets. The indictment paints
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a picture of a narco state, Venezuela's military providing armed
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escorts for cocaine shipments, Venezuelan air force jets providing cover
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clandestine airstrips built on government land, intelligence services looking the
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other way or actively participating. And Cilia Flores, Maduro's wife.
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She's charged too, accused of brokering meetings between drug traffickers
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and Venezuelan anti narcotics officials, taking hundreds of thousands of
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dollars in bribes to ensure the drugs got through. The
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first lady of Venezuela allegedly running interference for the cartels.
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Here's what makes this prosecution strong. The US government has
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a cooperating witness. Hugo Carvajal, former head of Venezuelan military
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intelligence served under both Hugo Chavez and Maduro. Knew where
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all the bodies were buried, figuratively and probably literally. Carvajal
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was arrested in Spain in twenty nineteen, fought extradition for years,
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finally arrived in the United States in twenty twenty three,
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and in June twenty twenty five, he pleaded guilty. Started cooperating.
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When the former head of your intelligence service is testifying
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against you, your legal situation is not good. Carvea Hal
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has first hand knowledge of how the drug trafficking operation worked,
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who gave the orders, where the money went, how the
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military protected the shipments. If convicted on all counts, Maduro
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faces life in prison, and life in the federal system
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means life, no parole, you die in custody. The same
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superseding indictment also charges Maduro's son, a member of Venezuela's
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National Assembly, five other co defendants. This isn't just a
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prosecution of one man. It's an attempt to dismantle what
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the Justice Department calls a narco terrorist regime. We'll be
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right back with yesterday's arraignment and the legal defense that
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failed Manuel Noriega thirty six years ago and will face
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Nicholas Maduro today. Welcome back to celebrity trials. I'm Reed Carter.
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Yesterday noon, Manhattan Federal Court, Nicholas Maduro appeared before Judge
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Alvin Hellerstein for his arraignment. Hellerstein is ninety two years
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old Clinton appointee, been on the bench since nineteen ninety eight,
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and he's familiar with this case. He's overseen the Maduro
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indictment since it was unsealed in twenty twenty. For five years,
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he's been waiting for someone to actually bring Maduro to
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his courtroom. Now they have. Maduro was represented by court
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appointed attorney David Wickstrom. And here's an interesting wrinkle. Wickstrom's
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son is a federal prosecutor in the same district, works
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in the public corruption unit currently prosecuting Eric Adams, the
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mayor of New York. Father defends the dictator, son prosecutes
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the mayor. Welcome to the federal legal community. Wickstrom has
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experience with exactly this type of case. He previously represented
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the brother of the former president of Honduras in a
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drug trafficking prosecution. That client was convicted sentenced to life
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in prison, not a great precedent for Maduro. The arraignment
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itself was brief charges read plea entered not guilty as expected,
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bail denied. Maduro remains in custody pending trial. But here's
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where it gets interesting. Maduro's defense team is expected to
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file motions challenging the court's jurisdiction. They'll argue sovereign immunity.
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They'll argue the arrest violated international law. They'll argue Maduro
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can't be prosecuted because he was and arguably still is,
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a head of state. Sound familiar. It should, because thirty
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six years ago, almost to the day, the United States
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captured another Latin American leader on drug charges, use the
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same playbook, face the same legal arguments, and won. January third,
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nineteen ninety Operation Just Cause. Manuel Noriega, the dictator of Panama,
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was captured by American forces and brought to Miami to
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face drug trafficking charges, exactly thirty six years before Maduro's capture.
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Same date, same type of operation, same legal strategy. Noriega's
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lawyers threw everything at the wall, sovereign immunity. He was
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the de facto leader of Panama. Illegal arrest, the invasion
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violated international law, due process violations. He didn't get a
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fair extradition hearing because there was no extradition hearing. American
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forces just grabbed him. Every argument failed. The Court ruled
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that sovereign immunity didn't apply because the United States didn't
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recognize Noriega as Panama's legitimate leader. The invasion had been
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conducted specifically to remove him from power. You can't claim
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immunity from a government that just invaded your country to
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arrest you. The Supreme Court has held since the eighteen
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hundreds that American courts have jurisdiction to prosecute foreigners regardless
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of how they arrived in the United States. It doesn't
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matter if the arrest violated international law. Once you're here,
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you're subject to American justice. In nineteen eighty nine, William Barr,
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then head of the Office of Legal Counsel later Trump's
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Attorney General, wrote an opinion stating that the president has
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inherent constitutional authority to order FBI agents to arrest people
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in foreign countries even if it violates that country's sovereignty.
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That opinion is still on the books. It will absolutely
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be cited in Maduro's prosecution. Noriega was convicted in nineteen
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ninety one, sentenced to forty years, eventually reduced, but he
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still spent decades in prison died in custody in twenty seventeen. Now,
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legal experts point out that Maduro has a slightly stronger
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immunity argument than Noriega. Here's why. Noriega was never actually
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the president of Panama. He was the military dictator, but
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technically the commander of the Panamanian Defense forces. Maduro was
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formally recognized as Venezuela's president from twenty thirteen to twenty nineteen.
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He's arguably still the de facto president today. One Miami
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defense attorney put it this way, before you ever get
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to guilt or innocence, there are serious questions about whether
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a US court can proceed at all. Maduro has a
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much stronger sovereign immunity defense than did Noriega, who was
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not actually the sitting president of Panama at the time.
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But here's the problem for Maduro's defense. American courts defer
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to the State Department on questions of who's a legitimate
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head of state, and the State Department considers Maduro a
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fugitive has for years. The fifty million dollar bounty wasn't
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for the arrest of a president, it was for the
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arrest of a drug trap affacer. The Trump administration withdrew
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recognition of Maduro's government in twenty nineteen after he stole
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the election by outlawing opposition candidates. Instead, the US recognized
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opposition leader Juan Guidou as Venezuela's legitimate president. That recognition
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never led anywhere. Guido never actually took power, but it
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means the United States has formally declared Maduro to be
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an illegitimate ruler. There's no claim to sovereign immunity if
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we don't recognize him as head of state, said Dick Gregory,
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the retired federal prosecutor who originally indicted Noriega, and Gregory
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would know he wrote that playbook. The government will also
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argue that drug trafficking isn't an official act entitled to immunity.
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You don't get sovereign protection for running a cocaine operation.
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That's not state craft. That's organized crime. My prediction. The
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immunity defense fails, the jurisdiction challenges fail. Maduro goes to trial,
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and based on the cooperating witnesses, the evidence, and the
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strength of the prosecution's case, Maduro gets convicted, spends the
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rest of his life in federal prison. Noriega died in custody.
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Maduro probably will too. The world is reacting to what
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just happened, and the reactions depend a lot on who's
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doing the reacting. In South Florida, the Venezuelan diaspora is celebrating.
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Millions of Venezuelans fled Maduro's regime over the past decade,
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came to Miami, to Houston, to New York, watched their
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country collapse into poverty and dictatorship from afar. Now they're
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dancing in the streets waving Venezuelan flags. Finally, finally, the
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man who destroyed their country is facing justice. Maria Coriina Machado,
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the Venezuelan opposition leader who won the Nobel Peace Prize
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last year, called for the world to recognize at Mundo
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Gonzalez as Venezuela's legitimate president. Gonzales by most credible accounts
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actually won the July twenty twenty four election, before Maduro
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threw out the results and declared himself the winner. Now
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he's calling for a democratic transition. Acting president Delsi Rodriguez,
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Maduro's vice president, initially condemned the operation as a kidnapping,
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called it an illegal act of war, then interestingly shifted
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her tone started calling for cooperation with the United States.
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The Rats know when the ship is sinking. Cuba is
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