The Dramatic Arraignment of Nicolas Maduro

"That's when Maduro-dressed in navy, and wearing shackles and headphones, so that he could hear the court interpreter-stood up and, in his native Spanish, told the judge who he was and how he'd arrived inside a United States courtroom. "Soy el Presidente constitucional de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela," Maduro responded, before explaining that the U.S. government had kidnapped him and his wife from their home in Caracas on January 3rd, and that he was invoking the protections of international treaties. "I consider myself a prisoner of war," he said."

"Judge Hellerstein interrupted Maduro and reminded him that he had asked a simple yes-or-no question. "I only want to know one thing: Are you Nicols Maduro Moros?" "I am Nicols Maduro Moros," the defendant confirmed. During her own allocution moments later, Maduro's wife, Cilia Flores, likewise struck a note of defiance and introduced herself as the First Lady of Venezuela, her face appearing bruised and bandaged. (Later in the hearing, her lawyer indicated that she may have suffered a fracture or severe bruising to her ribs during her arrest.)"

Nicols Maduro appeared in a Manhattan federal courtroom wearing navy clothing, shackles, and headphones and answered the judge's identity question. Maduro declared himself the constitutional president of Venezuela, claimed the U.S. government had kidnapped him and his wife from Caracas on January 3, and invoked international treaty protections while calling himself a prisoner of war. Judge Alvin Hellerstein pressed for a simple yes-or-no response to confirm identity. Cilia Flores, Maduro's wife, introduced herself as First Lady, showed bruising and bandaging, and her lawyer said she may have a fractured or severely bruised rib from her arrest.

Read at The New Yorker