The American administration authorizes Venezuela to pay for the defense of Nicolás Maduro

The doubt is now lifted. The American government has given the green light for Venezuela to pay for the legal fees of Nicolas Maduro’s lawyers, the ousted Venezuelan president who is currently held in the United States, according to a court document.

The US administration had previously prevented the Venezuelan state from paying the lawyers’ fees for the Maduro couple, due to international sanctions imposed on the country.

Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores’ defense had taken action to try to dismiss the indictment, arguing that prohibiting an accused person’s access to a lawyer of their choice is a violation of a right guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment of the US Constitution.

But the Treasury Department has removed this obstacle and will allow “the defense lawyers to receive payments from the government of Venezuela under certain conditions,” wrote New York prosecutor Jay Clayton to Judge Alvin Hellerstein in a letter dated Friday. According to him, the defense acknowledges a concession and withdraws their request for dismissal for the time being.

Taken on January 3 to Caracas with his wife during a spectacular military operation by the US military, involving about 150 aircraft and helicopters as well as ground troops, Nicolas Maduro faces four charges in the United States, including narcoterrorism. The former president denies the accusations against him.

The response from Judge Hellerstein, a 92-year-old judge experienced in major cases, will be closely watched, even if the drastic choice of dismissing the charges seems very unlikely. The Maduros are held in a high-security prison in the Brooklyn neighborhood of New York.

(With AFP)