Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

A judge appeared sympathetic to legal arguments that ex-Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cillia Flores should be allowed to use money from the Venezuelan government to fund their defence.

Maduro and Flores's attorneys asked the judge to dismiss the narco-terrorism case against the pair because the US government denied them use of the funds for their lawyers due to current sanctions.

Prosecutors argued Maduro "plundered" Venezuela's wealth and should not be able to use that country's money for legal fees.

The 92-year-old Judge Alvin Hellerstein however, noted that "the right to defence is paramount". He said he would issue a ruling at a later date.

He also said he would not grant the defence's bid to dismiss the overall case over the fees dispute.

We're finishing up with our live coverage of today's court hearing, but you can read more about the Maduro legal battle here.

Vanessa Buschschlüter
Latin America editor

Image source, MIGUEL GUTIERREZ/EPA/Shutterstock

Interim President Delcy Rodríguez has been adamant that the decisions she has taken since replacing Maduro, have been her own.

But many of them are in stark contrast to what the Maduro government - of which she formed part - said before his ouster.

Take the decision to open up Venezuela's gas and oil sector up to foreign investment, for example.

Just a couple of weeks before Maduro was seized by US special forces, Venezuela's fiery interior minister - who remains in his post to this day - told oil workers that "not one drop of oil" would be taken by the US.

In his state of the union address last month, Trump said that the US had "received more than 80 million barrels of oil from Venezuela".

US officials have heaped praise on Rodríguez for co-operating with the Trump administration and the interim leader has been all smiles as she received the US energy secretary and other officials.

Members of Venezuela's opposition, however, point out that there has been no talk yet of any elections being held.

They also fear that the Rodríguez government could become more repressive should the Trump administration's attention turn to other countries, such as Iran or Cuba.

Opposition leader María Corina Machado has not yet returned to the country after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo and many institutions such as the electoral council and the judiciary remain under the control of Maduro loyalists.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from Washington DC

Trump’s Venezuela policy is one that has morphed over time, but has, for now, seemingly stabilised.

For months last year, the Trump administration took an aggressive stance towards Nicolás Maduro, whom is accused of drug trafficking.

Suspected drug boats were bombed near Venezuelan waters and the White House publicly mulled the prospect of an armed intervention to unseat the Maduro government.

That all changed on 3 January, when US special forces swept into Caracas, seized him and his wife and spirited them away to face trial in the US.

Since then, Trump has been content to let Maduro’s former vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, run the country.

For Trump, this has proved beneficial, with the current Venezuelan government giving the US considerable direct control over Venezuelan energy assets and a US-controlled oil sales framework - part of a broader goal of American energy stability.

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

In Venezuela, some protesters gathered in support of Maduro.

Maduro's son, Nicolás Maduro Guerra who is also a politician, addressed a rally in the capital Caracas.

"We trust in the US legal system," the younger Maduro tells the AFP news agency.

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

Pascal Fletcher
Latin American Specialist, BBC Monitoring

One of the most visible reactions across Latin America, beyond the initial shock, was the question "Who might be next?".

Regional leaders and media pundits did not conceal their alarm over what they called the "dangerous precedent" created by the US operation in Venezuela. Some warned that other nations could be in line for the same treatment by Trump - Cuba, Colombia or even Mexico.

In a part of the world where US military interventions in the past have often raised Latin American hackles and denunciations of "imperialism", several leaders and governments reacted with predictable outrage.

Cuba's President Miguel Diaz-Canel, a close Maduro ally whose communist government in Havana is currently facing ramped-up US pressure including a blockade of foreign oil supplies to the island, condemned the "criminal US attack against Venezuela".

Colombian President Gustavo Petro demanded that the United Nations Security Council address the "aggression" against Venezuela and the governments of Mexico and Brazil condemned what they termed as "unacceptable" US actions.

In Latin America's media, strong disapproval of Trump's targeting of Maduro nevertheless vied with some distaste for the deposed authoritarian Venezuelan leader, whom many mainstream outlets openly called a "dictator".

Image source, Jane Rosenberg / Reuters

With no cameras inside the courtroom, we rely on artists to sketch the scene.

Jane Rosenberg has just published this sketch of today's hearing.

Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores are seated, wearing headphones to translate the audio.

Image source, Press Handout via EPA

Venezuela's former First Lady Cilia Flores was also in court alongside her husband. The couple were seized together by US forces earlier this year and flown to New York.

Flores, 69, was previously the head of Venezuela's national Assembly. She is accused of, among other things, accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in 2007 to arrange a meeting between "a large-scale drug trafficker" and the director of Venezuela's National Anti-Drug Office.

In November 2015, she became embroiled in the "Narco nephews" case, when two of her nephews - Francisco Flores de Freitas and Efrain Antonio Campo Flores - were arrested in Haiti in a sting operation by the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

They were caught trying to smuggle 800kg of cocaine into the US.

Flores accused US authorities of having "kidnapped" her nephews - but a judge sentenced the two men to 18 years in prison for drug trafficking. They were returned to Venezuela in 2022 as part of a prisoner swap under the Biden administration.

Read more of our reporting on Cilia Flores here.

Image source, Reuters

A long motorcade has rolled out from Manhattan.

It's believed to be carrying Maduro to the jail in Brooklyn where he is being detained.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court in New York

Though the hearing was similarly well attended today, members of the public and journalists were quiet as they tried to parse complex legal arguments that left even the judge perplexed

“What is the remedy?” The 92-year-old judge asked both sides several times, wondering how he was supposed to deal with the defence’s motion to dismiss the case because of inadequate legal counsel.

In the end, the judge appeared to side with Maduro’s lawyers that they should have access to Venezuelan government funds to pay for their attorneys, as the case is “beyond the normal” and requires lots of resources.

This appeared to please Maduro, who, on his way out of court, smiled and shook hands with all his lawyers before he was escorted with his wife out a back door.

Grace Eliza Goodwin
Reporting from court in New York

The court hearing has just ended, with a follow-up date yet to be set. Here’s where things stand now.

Judge Hellerstein said the defendants’ right to counsel of their choice is paramount, hinting that they should be allowed to use Venezuelan government funds to pay for it.

Any national security concerns are no longer relevant, he said, because the defendants are now in US custody.

The prosecution argued that the court cannot force OFAC to grant a special licence for the defendants’ counsel. To that point, Hellerstein questioned what the remedy is to allow Maduro and Flores’ lawyers to keep defending them. That is what will be worked out next.

The prosecution also argued that Maduro and his wife had already “plundered” Venezuela’s wealth for their own benefit.

No trial date was set.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court in New York

The mood in the courtroom on the 26th floor for Maduro and his wife’s second hearing today was drastically different than the former Venezuelan leader’s first court appearance back in January.

During all of the 90-minute hearing, the two sat quietly in their khaki prison jumpsuits, listening carefully to translations from their headphones as their lawyers argued they should be allowed to use Venezuelan government money for their defence.

Unlike their arraignment, when Maduro gave a several-minutes long speech professing his innocence, he did not say a word in court today - and neither did anyone in the audience.

Last time the end of the hearing was interrupted when a member of the public screamed at Maduro from the back of the courtroom.

The hearing in federal court in New York has now ended.

Much of today's proceedings have been about how US sanctions are affecting the defence of Maduro and Cilia Flores.

It is an argument federal prosecutors have rejected.

Stay with us as our reporters make their way out of court.

Image source, Bloomberg via Getty Images

Judge Hellerstein says he will reject the defence's bid to dismiss the case, which had focused on US sanctions that prevent Venezuela's government from paying the legal fees of Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores.

As a reminder, the couple have argued the sanctions infringe on their right to a lawyer of their choice.

It is still unclear if the judge will allow the use of Venezuelan money to pay for the legal fees.

Stay with us.

Grace Eliza Goodwin
Reporting from court in New York

The prosecution is now arguing that Maduro and Flores cannot use the Venezuelan government’s funds to pay for their counsel because the government, and the couple, have been sanctioned since 2019.

Prohibiting the use of Venezuelan government funds does not violate the defendants’ Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights, the prosecutor argues.

Their right to counsel of choice is “outweighed” by concerns around national security, the prosecutor says.

Judge Alvin Hellerstein, however, says the “right to defence is paramount”.

The complexities of this case create such a heavy burden that it should require private counsel, Hellerstein argues.

Context: The Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution provides protections for individuals in legal proceedings including the guarantee of due process of law. The Sixth Amendment guarantees fair trials and legal protections to those accused of crimes, including the right to counsel, the ability to confront witnesses, and the right to public trial by jury.

Pratiksha Ghildial
Reporting from court

Image source, Pratiksha Ghildial / BBC

I just spoke to a prominent New York criminal defence attorney, Arthur Aidala, outside the courthouse here.

He says that though it's an uphill battle for Maduro, the 92-year-old judge assigned to the case, Alvin Hellerstein, is a fair person who doesn't lean one way or the other.

Aidala says that many cases "ultimately end up in a plea bargain and don't go to trial".

But if it does, it could be at least a year from now.

Mimi Swaby
Global affairs reporter

Maduro’s defence team is likely to argue that he can’t be criminally prosecuted for actions taken as Venezuela’s head of state.

However, the US stopped recognising him as Venezuela’s legitimate president in 2019 - after calling his re-election "fraudulent".

And there is precedent. In the early 1990s, Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega claimed head of state immunity when facing charges from the US of racketeering, drug smuggling and money laundering. A federal appeals court rejected it. He was later indicted in a Florida court.

The US invaded Panama in 1989 following failed negotiations seeking Noriega's resignation and annulment of that year's general election. Washington's main objective was to remove Noriega from power and extradite him to the US to face charges.

Pollack's opening arguments are about Maduro's right to a lawyer of his choosing, and for the Venezuelan government to pay for his legal fees.

Current US sanctions on Venezuela means the government in Caracas is unable to pay for his fees.

Pollack says Maduro and his wife's Cilia Flores' inability to pay for a lawyer of their choice because of the sanctions should be a basis for dismissing the entire case.

Grace Eliza Goodwin
Reporting from court in New York

Today’s hearing started more than 45 minutes late. A security guard in the room said the delay was because the judge had not yet arrived.

As expected, the hearing began with Maduro’s attorney Barry Pollack arguing for his client’s right to counsel.

Pollack argues that Maduro has a right to use funds from the Venezuelan government to pay for his defence of choice, and that he cannot afford counsel otherwise.

Also, he argues, there’s no allegation that the funds are tainted.

Today's hearing is presided over by Judge Alvin Hellerstein, a 92-year-old who has been on the bench since 1998.

Hellerstein was first nominated to the federal court by President Bill Clinton and has overseen several high profile cases during his judgeship at the Southern District of New York.

He presided over several lawsuits brought by victims' families following the September 11 terror attacks. He also handled a long-running dispute between the US government and human rights groups that helped shed light on US troop abuses in Iraq. More recently, he is presiding over a case in which President Trump seeks to reverse his hush-money conviction.

Hellerstein became a judge after a long career in private practice and has spoken about discrimination he faced as an orthodox Jew early in his career.

The court hearing is now under way, presided over by Judge Alvin Hellerstein with Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores seated alongside their respective defence lawyers.

They are both wearing khaki prison uniforms and have headphones on for simultaneous translation of the proceedings.

Because this case is being heard in federal court, there are no cameras and most electronics are banned.

Note taking by hand is allowed and there is typically a court sketch artist in the room to visualise proceedings.

Stay with us for the very latest.