Updates: Maduro says ‘I’m still president’ as he pleads not guilty in court

You can read more on Nicolas Maduro and his wife appearing in a New York court here.

Read this opinion piece on how Donald Trump has intensified US militarism and what that means for Washington’s actions abroad.

And for a deeper analysis, read this feature on why experts say what the US did in Venezuela risks normalising power grabs and undermining international norms.

This live page will close soon. Here’s a look at the day’s main developments:

• Nicolas Maduro made his first US court appearance in New York, pleading not guilty to federal charges while insisting he is still Venezuela’s president.
• Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores, also pleaded not guilty to charges in the same hearing.
• The UN Security Council convened an emergency session to address the US operation and Maduro’s abduction, with Venezuela’s UN ambassador, Samuel Moncada, condemning the actions as illegal.
• US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz told the council the US is “not at war” with Venezuela, defending Maduro’s abduction as lawful and accusing him of destabilising the region and “repressing” Venezuelans.
• Maduro’s son addressed Venezuela’s National Assembly, pledging “unconditional support” for interim President Delcy Rodriguez and calling for balanced international engagement.
• Colombian President Gustavo Petro said he would “take up arms” in the face of threats issued by US President Donald Trump.
• UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said it is up to the US to justify its capture of Maduro, stressing that international law must be the benchmark and that the situation in Venezuela is “not straightforward”.

Colombia’s government says it plans to “keep cooperating” with the US against drug trafficking, after Trump suggested the South American country could be the next target of a US military operation.

“The government of Colombia has let ⁠the US government know… that we are going to keep coordinating and cooperating in the fight against drug trafficking,” Interior Minister Armando Benedetti said in a video with Justice Minister Andres Idarraga.

Benedetti said Colombia’s anti-drug ‌operations would target drug laboratories, criminal organisations, and their camps.

“We will continue to emphasise the fight against this scourge, particularly on the Colombian-Venezuelan border,” Idarraga said.

Trump on Sunday said the government in Bogota was run by “a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States”, in reference to Colombian President Gustavo Petro.

“And he’s not going to be doing it very long. Let me tell you,” Trump said.

When asked if he meant a US operation against Colombia, Trump said, “Sounds good to me.”

The narrative from the White House continues to be that this was a law enforcement action that took place with the capture and detainment of Maduro, and that, as a result, it is consistent with US law.

They are arguing that Maduro was the head of a narcoterrorist organisation – a cartel – and that he posed a direct threat to the United States by allowing the importation of illegal drugs.

Legally, this is the beginning of a very long, drawn-out process.

What happens next for US-Venezuela relations is something that is going to be dictated by the White House.

What it seems to be focused on right now is a PR campaign to avoid the perception that the United States is taking on an occupation of Venezuela.

There might be different private and public messages [from Venezuela’s leadership] being sent to the US administration.

In public, the country’s National Assembly spoke about what they called the “kidnapping” of Maduro.

Delcy Rodriguez, when she was sworn in as interim president, said she takes on the presidency with pride, but she also takes it on with sorrow because of what’s happened.

The country’s defence minister, Vladimir Padrino, who is hugely influential as well, has been speaking very defiantly against the US.

But late last night, Delcy Rodriguez also put out written communication, talking about developing the country and cooperation with the US. So, there’s a feeling that she has to strike a very difficult balance here.

She’s got the base of her party that have really been weaned for years on anti-imperialism, on anti-Yankeeism as they would call it, against the US. And she’s also got the leaders of the army who perhaps are not going to have a soft view of the US, especially after what happened to members of the presidential guard and Maduro.

But on the other hand, she’s got Trump saying, unless you do what I say, something’s going to happen to you that might be worse than Maduro. So, there’s a very, very difficult path now that Delcy Rodriguez is going to have to tread in a deeply divided country.

Close to 200 US military personnel entered the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, as part of the operation to abduct Maduro, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has said.

“Nearly 200 of our greatest Americans went downtown in Caracas… and grabbed an indicted individual wanted by American justice, in support of law enforcement, without a single American killed,” Hegseth said in a speech to US sailors and shipbuilders in Virginia.

It was the first time that a US official had provided a figure for the forces who swooped into Caracas via helicopter as part of the operation, which also involved more than 150 military aircraft in various roles, including striking Venezuelan defences.

Nicolas Maduro walked into a packed New York courtroom on Monday with his shoulders back, scanning the public gallery and offering a few Spanish greetings, before declaring, “I am innocent”, according to a report of Monday’s hearing by the AFP news agency.

On one occasion, the judge cut him off as Maduro had gone well beyond a request that he simply confirm his identity for the court.

“I’m here kidnapped since January 3, Saturday. I was captured at my home in Caracas, Venezuela,” the 63-year-old said.

“There will be a time and place to get into all of this,” Judge Alvin Hellerstein replied.

One of the most dramatic moments came at the end of the hearing, when Maduro had a heated exchange with a man in the public gallery who shouted that the Venezuelan president would pay for his crimes.

“I am a prisoner of war,” Maduro responded, before being led out of the court.

CNN reports that Cilia Flores’s lawyer, Mark Donnelly, has said she will need to be evaluated after incurring “significant injuries during her abduction”.

Addressing the judge during Maduro’s and Flores’s hearing earlier, Donnelly suggested Flores’s injuries may involve a fracture or heavy rib bruising, said CNN.

The news outlet also reported that both Maduro and Flores requested to meet with the Venezuelan consulate after being informed of their right to do so by the judge.

Despite having the world’s largest known oil reserves, Venezuela – hampered by US sanctions and decaying infrastructure – produces only about 1 percent of the world’s oil.

Trump’s plan for the US to step in and rebuild the country’s oil sector could have far-reaching geopolitical implications, including deepening tensions with China and hurting Russia’s war economy.

Watch our report here:

Greenland hopes to ⁠improve relations with the United States, and cannot ⁠be compared with Venezuela, the ‌island’s prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, ‌told ‌a ⁠news conference on Monday, after Trump repeated that he wanted to annex the mineral-rich Arctic territory.

“We are not in the situation where we are thinking that a takeover of the country might happen overnight,” Nielsen said at a news conference in the capital, Nuuk, speaking via a translator.

“You cannot compare Greenland to Venezuela. We are a democratic country.”

‌Tankers loaded with Venezuelan crude and fuel that left the country’s waters in recent days are sailing in international waters without a ⁠known flag or ship safety documentation in place, shipping data showed.

The location of the vessels is unknown since they left Venezuelan waters.

All commercial ships have to be ⁠registered or flagged with a country to comply with safety and environmental regulations.

Ship classification societies provide safety services, such as checking that ships are seaworthy, and this certification is essential ‌for securing insurance and entry into ports.

The ships have ‌sailed despite Trump saying on Saturday that an oil embargo remains in full force after Maduro’s abduction.

Barry Pollack, the Washington lawyer who represented WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, will defend abducted Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in a US drug case that could test immunity claims for foreign leaders and the legality of his capture.

Pollack appeared with Maduro on Monday as he pleaded not guilty in ⁠Manhattan federal court, days after the Venezuelan leader and his wife were abducted in a US military raid.

Maduro pleaded not guilty on Monday to a four-count indictment accusing him of leading a conspiracy to funnel cocaine into the US, including by working with armed rebel groups, drug cartels and international ‌gangs.

At Maduro’s arraignment on Monday, Pollack said he anticipated extensive legal wrangling over what he termed Maduro’s “military abduction”, signalling the defence will argue Saturday’s operation was unlawful.

Pollack may also claim that Maduro is immune from criminal charges as the ‌head of a foreign government.

The US has not recognised Maduro as Venezuela’s leader since 2019, after Maduro claimed victory in an election the US and other countries deemed fraudulent.

Journalist Noris Soto, speaking to Al Jazeera from Caracas, says Venezuela is experiencing an uneasy calm following Maduro’s first court appearance in the US since his abduction.

Soto says most people are staying at home, with the rush to stock up on food seen over the weekend now fading. Businesses and markets are open at reduced capacity, but the streets remain largely empty.

She reports sightings of security forces operating alongside armed civilian groups, stopping people, checking vehicles and even phones, fuelling “fear”, Soto said. There are also reports of journalists being detained.

She says this atmosphere has prevented Venezuelans from either celebrating or protesting Maduro’s removal, sharply contrasting with scenes of celebration among Venezuelans abroad.

Information about Maduro’s court appearance has reached people mainly through social media, she added.

According to her, views are sharply divided between those welcoming Maduro’s detention and others who see it as an arbitrary US action violating international law. But when it comes to the political future, she says many Venezuelans feel little has changed.

“His most powerful inner circle’s still here,” she said, referring to interim President Delcy Rodriguez and key military figures.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva spoke by phone with Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy ⁠Rodriguez, on Saturday, in the hours after US forces attacked the country and abducted Maduro, according to the Brazilian president’s office.

Lula, whose left-wing government had strengthened ties with neighbouring Venezuela, condemned the US action in Venezuela as having crossed an “unacceptable line”.

We’re hearing from our colleagues in Caracas that there’s really tight security around the National Assembly – more than a dozen rings of security to stop any untoward elements getting in there – where Delcy Rodriguez is being sworn in as president.

What we’re hearing is that there are two possibilities.

If Nicolas Maduro, the president, is partially absent and declared as partially absent, then she can rule as interim president and just keep extending that mandate every three months.

But, if he’s declared as permanently absent, then in the space of three months, she instead has to declare for elections.

We’ve just got to check which one it is that she’s actually being sworn in as. There’s a very big difference, obviously, between the two of those.

Something along with Delcy Rodriguez being sworn in as the acting president … Her brother, Jorge Rodriguez, has been re-elected or re-put in as the president of the National Assembly. That’s important because there’s also internal politics going here within the Venezuelan leadership – that gives her a support there with Jorge Rodriguez.

The other key leaders are Diosdado Cabello and Vladimir Padrino who control most of the armed forces between them. So, there seems here now a balance that’s going on as well in the National Assembly and the political landscape in general of Venezuela.

One in three Americans approve of the US military strike on Venezuela that abducted Maduro, and 72 percent worry the US will become too involved in the South American country, according ⁠to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, which concluded on Monday.

The two-day poll showed that 65 percent of Republicans back the military operation ordered by Republican President Trump, compared with 11 percent of Democrats and 23 percent of independents.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll, conducted on Sunday and Monday, showed significant support among Republicans for a ‌foreign policy that includes exerting influence over nearby countries.

Some 43 percent of Republicans said they agreed with the statement “The United States should have ‌a policy of dominating affairs in the Western Hemisphere”, compared with 19 percent ‌who disagreed. The rest said they were ⁠unsure or did not answer the question.

The poll, which surveyed 1,248 US adults nationwide, showed Trump’s approval rating at 42 percent, the ‌highest since October, and up from 39 percent in a December poll. The poll, which was conducted online, had a margin of error of about 3 percentage points.

Jorge Rodriguez has promised to explore all possible ways to “bring back” Maduro, now imprisoned pending trial in the US.

“My main function in the days to come… as president of this National Assembly, will be to resort to all procedures, all platforms and all avenues to bring back Nicolas Maduro Moros, my brother, my president,” Rodriguez told lawmakers at the National Assembly.