Sketch of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores appearing before a US federal court in New York on January 5, 2026. Photo: Jane Rosenberg/Reuters/file photo.
Renowned criminal lawyer Barry Pollack, who defended journalist Julian Assange, has taken on the defense of Venezuela’s constitutional president, Nicolás Maduro, in New York. Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores were kidnapped and taken there following the US attack in the early hours of Jan. 3, when military forces under orders from the White House carried out bombings against Caracas and several states, killing dozens of civilians and military personnel.
Amid their illegitimate detention, President Maduro and Cilia Flores were taken this Monday to the Southern District Court of New York to begin a trial for alleged links to drug trafficking. This process reveals its political nature after months of unsubstantiated accusations by the Trump regime to publicly blame the Chavista leader for ties to drug trafficking.
Pollack gained greater notoriety after helping WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange reach a plea deal in 2024 that allowed him to leave prison. Assange faced charges of conspiring to obtain and release classified US documents in connection with the largest leak in US history in 2010, which included nearly half a million documents about the US invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan. This leak exposed crimes against humanity committed by US troops against civilians during their invasions of both countries.
Associated with the firm Harris St. Laurent & Wechsler LLP, this trial lawyer has more than 30 years of experience in complex criminal cases and many other offenses, according to US media. He is also listed as a member of the American College of Trial Lawyers, a member of the American Board of Criminal Lawyers, and a former president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
Cilia Flores, for her part, will be represented by Mark Donnelly of the firm Parker Sanchez and Donnelly. He is a lawyer specializing in economic crimes who worked for over a decade at the Department of Justice.
While both were brought before Federal Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein, who is presiding over the case, thousands of citizens opposed to US actions outside the courthouse demanded the Venezuelan presidential couple release and condemned the military aggression against the South American nation. Washington’s vile aggression against Venezuela took place a month after Trump pardoned former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been sentenced to 45 years in prison by the same Judge Hellerstein for proven drug trafficking offenses.
Adding to this scandal, other questions are piling up against the White House tenant, such as the extrajudicial executions in the Caribbean (after attacks against alleged drug boats), the military operations behind the backs of the prerogatives of Congress, the consequences of the hunt for migrants and the deportations, and even Trump’s links with the pedophile and sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein.
Flores injured
Venezuela’s First Lady, Cilia Flores, suffered “significant injuries” during her kidnapping along with President Nicolás Maduro early Saturday morning, amidst the US military assault and bombing of Venezuelan territory.
Flores’s lawyer, Mark Donnelly, revealed that his client suffered “significant injuries” including possible fractures and a severe rib hematoma. “The injuries are visible,” Donnelly stated, urging a comprehensive medical evaluation of his client.
Delcy Rodríguez Sworn in as Venezuela’s Acting President Following US Military Aggression
In this regard, Judge Hellerstein instructed the defense to coordinate with the prosecution to ensure the necessary medical attention, although the origin of the injuries was not specified, nor was a concrete timeframe established for the evaluation.
The Geneva Conventions and other international treaties establish clear obligations regarding the humane treatment of captured individuals, including immediate access to medical care when necessary.
(Telesur) with Orinoco Tribune content
