Nicolás Maduro’s first appearance in a U.S. courtroom was always going to be dramatic. But it was his wife, Cilia Flores, who shocked observers on Monday as a new sketch from the federal courthouse in New York showed her with a bandaged head and what appeared to be visible bruising.
Flores, Venezuela’s former de facto first lady, sat beside her husband as the pair were formally presented on narco-terrorism and drug-trafficking charges that the Trump administration has cited to justify their capture and transfer to New York City.
Their joint arraignment marked the beginning of what is expected to be a long and hard-fought legal battle over whether a deposed head of state can be tried in a U.S. court.
Through her attorney, Mark Donnelly, Flores alleged that she was injured when U.S. forces stormed their residence in Caracas and took the couple into custody over the weekend. “As you can see,” Donnelly told the judge, Cilia Flores sustained “significant injuries during her abduction,” adding that the 69-year-old may have a rib fracture or at least “severe bruising” that requires a full medical evaluation and imaging.
Latest here 👉️ https://t.co/DkeOCqiozy | Cilia Flores’ lawyer said she had suffered “significant injuries” during her capture and that he believes she has a fracture or severe bruising on her ribs. Her temple and eyelid were bandaged in court. Also, Nicolas Maduro had a… pic.twitter.com/6Tu7GWTQ9r
— Eyewitness News (@ABC7NY) January 5, 2026
Reporters in the courtroom noted that Flores had bandages on her forehead and temple and needed assistance to sit down at the defense table.
The judge directed prosecutors to make sure she receives proper medical care while in federal custody, a rare but pointed reminder that even high-profile defendants are entitled to basic protections. Cilia Flores has pleaded not guilty to the charges and, according to foreign media accounts, has described herself in court as “completely innocent.”
Maduro’s legal team raised its own concerns. His attorney, Barry Pollack, told the court that “there are some health and medical issues” affecting the former president that will need attention as the case proceeds.
Pollack also signaled that a central pillar of Maduro’s defense will be the legality of the U.S. operation that brought him there at all, arguing that his client was “head of a sovereign state and entitled to the privileges that status provides.”
🇺🇸🇻🇪⚡- A Sketch of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in federal court with his wife today, as published by AP
Detail to note: Cilia Flores the wife of Maduro, appeared with a bandage on her forehead and bruises near her right eye, she seemed to hold onto a U.S. marshal to be… pic.twitter.com/YeKpksf49h
— Monitor𝕏 (@MonitorX99800) January 5, 2026
Maduro, dressed in a blue jail uniform over an orange shirt and khaki pants, was defiant throughout the hearing. He pleaded not guilty and repeatedly spoke through an interpreter, insisting on his legitimacy and innocence.
“I’m innocent. I am not guilty. I am a decent man, the president of my country,” he told the judge, echoing language he has used in Venezuelan state media for years.
He spent much of the brief proceeding writing on a yellow legal pad at the defense table and asked the court to “respect” his notes and allow him to keep them, a small but telling assertion of control in a setting where almost everything else is out of his hands.
At several points, he complained that he had been “unlawfully abducted,” saying he was seized at his home in Caracas during the overnight raid in which U.S. forces captured him and Flores before transferring them first to a U.S. vessel and then to New York.
As deputy U.S. Marshals moved to escort him out at the end of the hearing, Maduro raised his voice in Spanish, declaring: “I am a kidnapped president. I am a prisoner of war.”
Aquí la tienen: Cilia Flores, esposada.
Que este sea solo el comienzo del fin de la dictadura en Venezuela. pic.twitter.com/FKEDm0vgxx
— Thabata Molina (@Thabatica) January 4, 2026
The statement encapsulated the narrative his defense is expected to push aggressively—that his arrest violated international law and that the U.S. has no jurisdiction to put him on trial.
Both Nicolas Maduro and Cilia Flores are being held at a federal detention facility in Brooklyn as their lawyers prepare what one outlet described as “voluminous” filings challenging the case.
For now, the court has set Maduro’s next appearance for March 17, the opening date in what is likely to become one of the most contentious and politically charged criminal proceedings in recent U.S. history.
