Venezuela’s Maduro asserts immunity in US court, urges dismissal of charges

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O ex‑líder venezuelano foi sequestrado por forças US durante um ataque militar em Caracas em janeiro.

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Juiz dos EUA fixa data de julgamento em 2027 para Maduro da Venezuela.

Maduro’s lawyer, Barry Pollack, made the appeal in a Manhattan district court on Wednesday.

Sua equipe jurídica pediu ao Juiz Distrital Alvin Hellerstein que rejeite o caso, o que testará a disposição dos tribunais dos EUA em aplicar o direito internacional a casos criminais.

Maduro was abducted and imprisoned on January 3, after US President Donald Trump authorised a military raid in Caracas. The former Venezuelan leader, who has been held in a Brooklyn federal jail, has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to go on trial on June 1, 2027, if his effort to dismiss the case is unsuccessful.

The principle that sitting heads of state are immune from prosecution abroad is a longstanding tenet of international law, seen as fundamental to diplomacy.

O juiz Hellerstein havia dado ao Pollack um prazo até quarta-feira para protocolar sua moção de rejeição do caso.

Pollack tem argumentado que Hellerstein não tem jurisdição, tanto porque chefes de Estado soberanos desfrutam de imunidade total quanto porque os atos pelos quais Maduro é acusado teriam sido parte de suas funções oficiais.

Pollack added that Maduro was falsely accused and “vehemently denies” the allegations.

A spokesperson for the Manhattan US Attorney’s office, which brought the charges, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Especialistas jurídicos disseram à agência de notícias Reuters que Maduro enfrenta uma batalha difícil.

Washington has not recognised Maduro as Venezuela’s president for years, due to disputed elections. Courts tend to defer to the US president and his cabinet in disputes over who is recognised as a foreign country’s leader.

US criminal cases involving heads of foreign states are extremely rare, but precedent offers little encouragement for Maduro. In 1990, a federal judge in Miami rejected former Panamanian military leader Manuel Noriega’s attempt to assert head-of-state immunity, in part because he never officially held the title of president.

Os EUA pararam de reconhecer Maduro em 2019, quando ele foi inaugurado pela segunda vez após uma eleição de 2018 que críticos dizem ter sido manipulada. Washington também chamou sua reeleição de 2024 de fraudulenta.

Maduro says both votes were fair and has long accused the US of seeking his ouster to gain control of the South American country’s oil wealth.

Pollack, no entanto, escreveu que a avaliação de Washington de que Maduro carecia de legitimidade não era relevante.

Venezuela run by Maduro’s vice president.

Since Maduro’s abduction, his former vice president and socialist ally, Delcy Rodriguez, has run Venezuela as its interim leader.

Ela também aumentou a cooperação com a administração Trump. No mês passado, os dois países chegaram a um acordo sem precedentes que veria os EUA assumir cerca de um quinto das reservas de petróleo da Venezuela.

Pollack wrote that it was “incongruous” for the US to recognise Rodriguez, who was appointed by Maduro, and not Maduro himself. He pointed to statements by Rodriguez and officials in her government, made in January and February, indicating that they still considered Maduro Venezuela’s legitimate head of state.

Rodriguez’s government has since gone silent on the matter. Some murals of Maduro in Caracas have been painted over in recent months.

Os promotores têm até 2 de outubro para responder à solicitação de Maduro de arquivar a acusação, e Hellerstein realizará uma audiência sobre o esforço de arquivamento em 17 de novembro.

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