Nicolas Maduro and his wife Celia Flores with American agents
The United States will allow Venezuela to pay for Nicolas Maduro’s legal defense, a court document showed, raising a hurdle to the ousted leader’s trial on drug and other charges in New York.US Treasury Department sanctions on Venezuela had previously prevented Venezuela – now ruled by Maduro’s deputy – from sending money to pay for lawyers to represent the leftist strongman and his wife.The two were kidnapped by US forces in a night raid in early January, and flown to New York to face federal criminal charges. The Maduros’ defense sought to have their cases dismissed on the grounds that withholding funding violates the US Constitution’s right to counsel of one’s choice.“The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued amended licenses to the defendants’ attorneys” allowing them “to receive payments from the government of Venezuela,” a court document filed by the US Attorney in New York on Friday said. The funds must be available after March 5, 2026, and cannot come from US-regulated oil sales.Since Maduro’s ouster, the United States has effectively controlled Venezuelan oil exports. The money goes into special accounts supervised by Washington. According to Friday’s filing, the defense has conceded to waive sanctions and has rescinded its request to dismiss the charges for the time being.
