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The Republican congresswoman from Florida, María Elvira Salazar, reacted this Thursday to Nicolás Maduro's second judicial hearing in New York with a strong message posted on her X profile: "In the end, all dictators must answer for their actions, here on earth or before God."
In his message, Salazar described Maduro as a "dictator who has kidnapped Venezuela with power and drug trafficking" and expressed his approval of the judicial process moving forward on U.S. soil.
"Nicolás Maduro, the dictator who has taken Venezuela captive through power and drug trafficking, now faces justice in the United States. The same one who plunged the country into misery, persecuted his people, and forced millions into exile, is now answering to the law," Salazar wrote on social media.
The second hearing of Maduro in New York took place this Thursday at 11:00 a.m. in the Federal Court for the Southern District, before Judge Alvin Hellerstein.
The judge rejected the defense's motion to dismiss the charges, allowing the proceedings to continue.
The session primarily revolved around the dispute over whether Maduro can use funds from the Venezuelan government to finance his legal defense.
Until the end of the day, the judge had not set a date for the main trial. Experts consulted by the EFE agency estimate that the process will not begin before 2027 or 2028.
Also this Thursday, President Donald Trump stated from the White House that the current charges are just the beginning.
Additionally, he stated that other trials will come against Maduro, pointing out that "he has only been prosecuted for a fraction of the crimes he has committed."
The leader described Maduro as "a very, very dangerous man who has killed a lot of people."
Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were captured on January 3, 2026, in Caracas during the so-called "Operation Absolute Resolution," conducted by the Delta Force unit of the United States Army with support from the CIA and Colombian intelligence.
Both were transferred to New York and incarcerated at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. In their first hearing on January 5, they pleaded not guilty.
Maduro faces charges of conspiracy for narco-terrorism, cocaine trafficking, possession of machine guns, and destructive devices, with penalties that could reach life imprisonment.
His son Nicolás Ernesto Maduro Guerra, known as "Nicolasito", also faces similar charges related to the FARC, according to an indictment filed in January.
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