Maduro barred from using Venezuelan state funds in US trial

US prosecutors are refusing to allow ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to use Venezuelan state funds to finance his defence in a US trial, where he faces drug trafficking charges. According to them, Maduro has not been recognised as the country’s legitimate leader for years.

Maduro’s lawyer, Barry Pollack, asked a federal judge in New York to dismiss the charges. He argued that the Treasury Department had revoked, without explanation, a sanctions waiver that allowed the Venezuelan government to fund his defence. According to him, this infringes on the right to legal representation under the Sixth Amendment to the US Constitution.

The prosecution claims that granting the exemption was an administrative error. According to prosecutors, Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, can use their own funds.

Maduro and Flores were detained on January 3 during a US operation in Caracas and transported to the United States, where they are awaiting trial in a Brooklyn jail.

(Reuters, luc)