The deputy Nicolás Maduro Guerra, known as "Nicolasito," promised this Sunday not to give up on his effort to see his father return, the former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, who has spent nine months detained in New York after being captured by U.S. military forces in Caracas.
«Nine months after the kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores, we reaffirm alongside the people of Caracas that we will not rest until we see them return. For the youth, for life, for our grandparents, for the future that awaits us, this struggle continues and we, God willing, will overcome!», he wrote on X, accompanying the message with images from an event demanding the release of the former leader.
Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were arrested on January 3, 2026, during the U.S. operation "Absolute Resolution," carried out in Caracas and surrounding areas as part of federal charges for alleged drug trafficking.
Both face charges including conspiracy to import cocaine, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, within a plot of narcoterrorism and corruption that, according to the prosecution, spanned more than two decades.
The joint oral trial, before federal judge Alvin K. Hellerstein, is scheduled for June 1, 2027.
Both Maduro and Flores have requested the dismissal of the case, arguing sovereign immunity, but have not been successful so far.
In parallel, Flores' defense insisted this week on its request for bail, arguing that his heart problems have worsened during his imprisonment.
The Prosecutor's Office opposed this request, arguing that there is an extreme risk of flight and danger to the public. Judge Hellerstein set a hearing for next Wednesday to assess the request.
The case is also experiencing internal turbulence: prosecutor Jason A. Richman, co-head of National Security at the Federal Prosecutor's Office for the Southern District of New York and one of the key supervisors of the case, left the office at the end of September, although the National Security Prosecutor's Office maintains control of the process.
Meanwhile, Maduro's account on X posted a message this Sunday in which the former president and Flores express their gratitude for the support of their followers: "We have felt loyalty as a shared value practiced by simple and noble people. Today more than ever, we feel loved and embraced by so many good people."
Maduro Guerra, 35 years old and a deputy in the Venezuelan National Assembly, has become the most visible spokesperson for the family since his father's capture, participating in public events and actively campaigning for the release of the former leader, whose trial will not begin before June of next year.
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