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Former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores asked a federal judge Wednesday to dismiss the drug trafficking charges against them, arguing, among other things, that the pair have sovereign immunity, according to court documents."No American court has ever presided over the criminal trial of a foreign leader who was recognized by their own country as the sitting head of state at the time the charges were brought.That is not an accident of history.
It reflects a rule older than the common law: heads of state are exempt from the criminal process of any national court but their own," a memorandum Maduro's lawyers filed in support of their motion to dismiss read."That immunity flows not from goodwill that can be withdrawn on a whim, but from the perfect equality and absolute independence of sovereigns.Thus, this Court lacks jurisdiction with respect to Mr.
Maduro, who is recognized by the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela as its head of state," the document continued.MADURO ALLY DEPORTED TO US OVER ALLEGED BILLION-DOLLAR CORRUPTION SCHEME TIED TO OIL, FOOD PROGRAMVenezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores were captured by U.S.forces in Caracas earlier this year and extradited to New York to face federal charges. (Juan BARRETO / AFP via Getty Images)In January 2026, the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York unsealed a fourth superseding indictment against Maduro and Flores.
The indictment charged Maduro with narco-terrorism conspiracy, and both Flores and Maduro with cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices.The indictment alleged that for decades, Maduro used his position — first as a deputy in Venezuela's National Assembly and then as the country's president — to conspire with narco-terrorists from some of the world's largest cartels to import cocaine into the United States.Maduro's lawyers, however...