Captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has urged a US judge to dismiss criminal drug trafficking charges against him, arguing he should be immune from prosecution as the head of a sovereign country.
The charges, filed in Manhattan federal court, formed the basis for the January 3 operation in which the US military raided Caracas and captured Maduro.
He has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to go on trial starting June 1, 2027, if his effort to dismiss the case is unsuccessful.
The principle that sitting heads of state are immune from prosecution abroad is a longstanding tenet of international law seen as fundamental to diplomacy.
Maduro's push to persuade Manhattan-based US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein to dismiss the case will test US courts' general reluctance to apply international law in criminal cases.
Washington has not recognised Maduro as Venezuela's president since 2019, and courts tend to defer to the president and his cabinet in disputes over who is recognised as a foreign country's leader.
Not favourable case
US criminal cases involving heads of foreign states are extremely rare, but cases similar to Maduro's are generally not favourable to him. In 1990, a federal judge in Miami rejected former Panamanian military leader Manuel Noriega's attempt to assert head-of-state immunity in part because he never officially held the title of president.
The United States stopped recognising Maduro in 2019, when he was inaugurated after a 2018 election the US said was rigged. The US also called his 2024 reelection fraudulent.
Maduro says both votes were fair and has long accused Washington of seeking his removal to gain control of the South American country's oil wealth.
Since Maduro's removal, his vice president and socialist ally, Delcy Rodriguez, has run Venezuela and increased cooperation with the US administration.
Last month, the two countries reached an unprecedented deal that would see the US take over around one-fifth of Venezuela's oil reserves.
Prosecutors have until October 2 to respond to Maduro's motion to dismiss the indictment, and Hellerstein will hold a hearing on the dismissal effort on November 17.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump said Venezuela is not ready for elections yet.
"Delcy wants it, but they're not ready yet," he said, referring to elections.
