The new world order 'according to Trump

With the audacious snatch and grab raid that extracted Nicolás Maduro to face trial in the United States, Washington sent a clear message to its allies and adversaries:

- By Victoria Bekiempis, Richard Luscombe and Guardian reporters

The deposed Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro pleaded not guilty to drugs, weapons and narco-terrorism charges on Monday, two days after his capture by US special forces in an operation ordered by Donald Trump that sent shock waves around the world.

The brevity and formality of the arraignment hearing in federal court in Manhattan - barely 30 minutes during which Maduro was asked to confirm his name and that he understood the four charges - belied the far-reaching consequences of the US action.

As Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, addressed the court in Lower Manhattan, the UN security council held an emergency meeting just a few kilometres to the north, where a dozen countries condemned the US “crime of aggression” and secretary general António Guterres suggested the operation constituted a breach of international law.

Maduro, 63, insisted to federal judge Alvin Hellerstein that he was “still president of my country”, had been illegally “captured”, and was “a prisoner of war”.

He was first indicted in 2020 as part of a drug-trafficking case against Venezuelan officials and Colombian guerrillas.

Each charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.