Former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro appeared smiling today in a New York City courtroom without making any statements.

This was Maduro’s second public appearance since his stunning arrest by the US earlier this year.

During the proceedings, which lasted about an hour, the judge made it known that he did not intend to grant the request of Maduro’s lawyers, who had asked for a halt to the prosecution on a procedural issue related to the payment of their services.

The 63-year-old former president and his wife, Celia Flores, 69, are accused of drug trafficking. Maduro, dressed in the gray prisoner’s uniform, appeared smiling, taking notes and chatting, through an interpreter, with his lawyers, occasionally glancing into the press gallery.

A few dozen Venezuelan dissidents had gathered outside the federal courthouse in southern Manhattan early on. “We are desperately seeking even a shred of justice for everything we have gone through,” said Carlos Egana, a 30-year-old teacher. “And the fact that this is happening, whether here in the U.S. or anywhere else, is a cause for joy.”

At a short distance, other activists from small left-wing organizations held placards with slogans against President Donald Trump’s policies: “From Venezuela to Iran, enough with sanctions and bombs,” some of them read.

This morning there were minor incidents between the two groups.

At the same time, in Caracas, several dozen Maduro supporters had gathered in Simón Bolívar Square to express their support for him. Among them was his son, deputy Nicolás Maduro Guerra, who said he “trusts the U.S. judicial system” and that his father, because of his office, has immunity.

Maduro and his wife have pleaded not guilty to the charges. Their lawyers have asked for the indictment to be quashed, arguing that the US government is preventing the Venezuelan state from paying their fees because of international sanctions imposed on Caracas. According to the lawyers, this violates the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

The prosecution believes that the couple has enough resources to pay the legal fees alone.

Judge Alvin Hellerstein said, however, that he would not drop the prosecution, but did not set a new trial date.

</html