US Authorizes Venezuela to Pay Legal Fees for Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores
· Telemundo McAllen (KTLM)
The United States has agreed to modify sanctions on Venezuela, allowing its government to pay the legal fees of attorneys defending Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in a drug trafficking case in New York, according to a court document. The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued amended licenses permitting payments under specific conditions, including that funds must be available to the Venezuelan government after March 5, 2026, and cannot come from Foreign Government Deposit Funds. This marks a shift in the strategy of the Department of Justice and the administration of former President Donald Trump, which had previously blocked access to these funds citing national security and foreign policy concerns. Maduro's defense, led by attorney Barry Pollack, had argued that the inability to pay legal fees violated the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees the right to choose legal representation. Judge Alvin Hellerstein of the Southern District of New York expressed skepticism about the prosecution's stance during a March 26 hearing, noting that the couple no longer posed a national security threat after their capture and transfer to the U.S. Maduro, 63, and Flores, 69, were apprehended in Caracas on January 3 by U.S. special forces and are currently held in a federal prison in Brooklyn. Both have pleaded 'not guilty' to charges including conspiracy to commit narcoterrorism and cocaine importation. The formal trial is not expected to begin for another one to two years.