Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro is scheduled to make his first court appearance in New York City after the United States captured him in a surprise attack and flew him to New York. Maduro is expected to appear in federal court in lower Manhattan on Monday at noon, according to the Southern Dist rict of New York. U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein has been assigned the case. Protesters gathered Sunday outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where Maduro is being held, to decry U.S. intervention in Venezuela. Many were heard clapping and chanting “Hands off Venezuela’s oil” and “No, no blood for oil.” Others carried signs that said, “No U.S. War on Venezuela” and “Stop Bombing Venezuela” and “U.S. Out of the Caribbean.” Police were also at the scene, setting up metal barriers. Venezuela 5 hours ago Rubio says U.S. won't govern Venezuela but will press for changes through oil blockade Venezuela Jan 3 These are the charges Maduro and his wife face following their capture Venezuela Jan 3 Maduro arrives in New York as Trump says U.S. will govern Venezuela until there's a ‘proper transition' The Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration and FBI said in a joint statement Sunday that the U.S. “pursued every lawful option to resolve this matter peacefully” with Venezuela’s Maduro. “Those opportunities were repeatedly rejected. The responsibility for this outcome rests solely with those who chose to continue criminal conduct rather than disengage,” they said in a statement shared on X by Attorney General Pam Bondi. The operation to capture Maduro and his wife yesterday in Venezuela “required months of coordination, detailed planning and seamless execution across multiple components of the federal government,” the statement said. “The mission was conducted to support an ongoing criminal prosecution tied to large-scale narcotics trafficking and related offenses that have fueled violence, destabilized the region, and contributed directly to the drug crisis claiming American lives,” it said. Maduro and his wife were indicted in New York on drug-related and narco-terrorism charges. ...read more read less