Maduro arrives at US courthouse to face drug trafficking charges

Deposed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is set to make his first appearance Monday in an American courtroom on the narco-terrorism charges the Trump administration used to justify capturing him and bringing him to New York.

Maduro and his wife are expected to appear at noon before a judge for a brief, but required, legal proceeding that will likely kick off a prolonged legal fight over whether he can be put on trial in the U.S.

His lawyers are expected to contest the legality of his arrest, arguing that he is immune from prosecution as a sovereign head of a foreign state. But the U.S. doesn’t recognize him as Venezuela’s legitimate leader.

Maduro, along with his wife, son and three others, is accused of working with drug cartels to facilitate the shipment of thousands of tons of cocaine into the U.S. They could face life in prison if convicted.

What to know

US eyes Venezuela’s oil: Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday that the U.S. would not govern Venezuela day-to-day other than enforcing an existing “oil quarantine” on the country, walking back Trump’s comment that the U.S. would “run” Venezuela temporarily. Still, Trump’s plan to seize and revitalize Venezuela’s oil industry faces major hurdles.

Venezuela’s interim president wants ‘respectful relations’ with US: Venezuela’s Delcy Rodríguez, who called Maduro’s capture an “atrocity” in the hours after the operation, has now invited Trump to “collaborate with us on an agenda of cooperation.” Her conciliatory message came after Trump threatened that she could “pay a very big price” if she didn’t fall in line with U.S. demands.

Maduro is being held at a notorious Brooklyn jail: It’s a facility so troubled that some judges have refused to send people there even as it has housed such famous inmates as music stars R. Kelly and Sean “Diddy” Combs. Opened in the early 1990s, the Metropolitan Detention Center, or MDC Brooklyn, currently houses about 1,300 inmates.

Protesters have begun gathering outside the courthouse

The small but growing group of about 50 protesters across the street from Manhattan federal court were separated by New York Police Department community service officers from about a dozen pro-intervention demonstrators.

The officers used bicycle rack-style metal barricades to separate the two groups.

“No War For Venezuelan Oil,” “No To Criminal Trump Invasion” and “No Blood For Oil” were among the signs. One man among a small group of about a dozen pro-intervention individuals pulled a Venezuelan flag away from those protesting the U.S. action.

Demonstrators were observed, recorded and interviewed by some of the more than 100 members of the media who had reserved their places outside hours earlier.

Crude prices rise and oil company shares jump after the US raid on Venezuela

U.S. stocks are rising at the open led by technology and energy stocks.

The S&P 500 rose 0.6% early Monday and the Nasdaq composite added 0.7%. The Dow gained 330 points, or 0.7%.

The price of U.S. crude oil gained 1% after U.S. forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in a weekend raid. Shares of Chevron and ConocoPhillips jumped after President Trump floated a plan for U.S. oil companies to help rebuild Venezuela’s oil industry.

Gold gained 2.4% and the price of silver soared 7.6%. Nvidia, Intel and other tech shares rose as the industry kicks off its annual CES trade show in Las Vegas.

Mexico’s president rejects US intervention and defends efforts against drug trafficking

Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum restated her opposition to the U.S. military intervention in Venezuela and defended her administration’s efforts to address drug trafficking from Mexico to the United States.

“We categorically reject the intervention in the internal affairs of other countries,” Sheinbaum said during her daily news briefing Monday. “Latin American history is clear and overwhelming. Intervention has never brought democracy, never has generated wellbeing, nor lasting stability.”

The president noted 300 tons of drugs seized by Mexican authorities and a drop in homicides during her presidency, but added that the U.S. has a responsibility to address its demand for drugs.

Sheinbaum said her administration had previously agreed with the Trump administration to collaborate and coordinate while respecting each country’s sovereignty. She said regional economic integration was the path forward.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will head to Capitol Hill to brief congressional leaders

Rubio and other top Trump administration officials will be discussing the Venezuela situation Monday evening with House and Senate leadership of the “gang of eight,” which includes top members of the Intelligence committees. The chairmen and ranking leaders of the other national security committees are also invited.

The Democratic leaders in Congress, Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, had publicly called for the briefing after leadership was largely kept in the dark about the surprise weekend operation capturing Maduro — despite Congress’s role in approving or rejecting certain military actions.

A war powers resolution that would prohibit further US military involvement in Venezuela without congressional approval is headed toward a vote this week in the Senate.

As a defendant in the US legal system, Maduro will have the same rights as anyone else

That includes the right to a trial by a jury of regular New Yorkers. But he’ll also be nearly — but not quite — unique.

Maduro’s lawyers are expected to contest the legality of his arrest, arguing that he’s immune from prosecution as a sovereign head of state.

Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega unsuccessfully tried the same defense after the U.S. captured him in a similar military invasion in 1990. But the U.S. doesn’t recognize Maduro as Venezuela’s legitimate head of state — particularly after a much-disputed 2024 reelection.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer calls for a peaceful transition to democracy in Venezuela

But he declined to criticize the American raid that seized President Nicolas Maduro and his wife.

Starmer, who’s worked hard to forge a strong relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump, said Monday that the U.K. supports international law. But he wouldn’t say whether he thought the U.S. strike on Caracas had breached it.

“It’s for the U.S. to set out its justifications for the actions that it’s taken,” Starmer said. “But it is a complicated situation. It remains a complicated situation. The most important thing is stability and that peaceful transition to democracy.”

Starmer did, however, join calls for Trump to cease his threats to take over Greenland.

Starmer told British broadcasters that Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen was right to say Trump has no claim on the Arctic island, which is Danish territory, and “I stand with her.” Starmer added that “Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark are to decide the future of Greenland — and only Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark.”

FBI Director Kash Patel says ‘We’re not done’

Patel said in an interview on “Fox & Friends” on Monday morning that the FBI is going to continue its “law enforcement mission” to find “anyone responsible or part of” drug-related activities he said are linked to the Tren de Aragua gang, which U.S. authorities allege worked with the Venezuelan government.

A U.S. intelligence assessment last year found no coordination between the gang and the Venezuelan government.

Patel said the FBI’s hostage rescue team, a tactical unit, was embedded with the U.S. forces in the mission to capture Maduro.