April 25 – The United States has agreed to modify its sanctions on Venezuela to allow the South American country’s government to pay Nicolás Maduro‘s defense lawyer, backing off a restriction that had threatened to derail the drug trafficking case against the ousted Venezuelan president, a court filing showed on Friday.
Maduro, 63, and his wife Cilia Flores, 69, were captured from their home in Caracas by U.S. special forces on January 3 and brought to New York to face criminal charges including narcoterrorism conspiracy. They have pleaded not guilty and are jailed in Brooklyn pending trial.
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Maduro’s lawyer Barry Pollack in February asked Manhattan-based U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein to dismiss the case because U.S. sanctions were preventing the Venezuelan government from paying his legal fees.
Pollack said that prohibition amounted to a violation of Maduro’s rights under the U.S. Constitution to the counsel of his choice.
Neither Maduro nor Flores can afford lawyers on their own, and the Venezuelan government is prepared to pay their fees, their lawyers have said.
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