Deposed former dictator of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, pleaded not guilty to narco-terrorism charges on Monday in a Manhattan courtroom, claiming he is a "decent man" who is innocent.
The post Maduro Pleads Not Guilty to Narco-Terrorism Charges: ‘I Am a Decent Man’ appeared first on Breitbart.
Nicolas Maduro pled "not guilty" during his first appearance in a United States court on Monday.
Just days after being captured from his home in Caracas, Venezuela, Maduro appeared in a New York City court for the first time alongside his wife, Cilia Flores. During the hearing, Maduro maintained that he is a "decent man" who is innocent of the charges levied against him by the United States.
'They will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts.'
"I am innocent," Maduro said. "I am not guilty.”
Flores' attorney also claimed that she sustained "significant injuries during her abduction" over the weekend, with journalists present in the courthouse reporting that she was seen wearing bandages on her head during the hearing.
RELATED: Maduro captured following 'large scale strike' in Venezuela, Trump says
Photo by Donald Trump's Truth Social Account/Anadolu via Getty Images
Following his capture, the United States indicted Maduro in the Southern District of New York on charges of "Narco-Terrorism Conspiracy, Cocaine Importation Conspiracy, Possession of Machineguns and Destructive Devices, and Conspiracy to Possess Machineguns and Destructive Devices against the United States."
"They will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts," Attorney General Pam Bondi said of Maduro and his wife. "On behalf of the entire U.S. DOJ, I would like to thank President Trump for having the courage to demand accountability on behalf of the American People, and a huge thank you to our brave military who conducted the incredible and highly successful mission to capture these two alleged international narco traffickers."
The operation that captured both Maduro and Flores took place in the dead of night on Saturday, and they were both then transported to New York by American officials. The operation left Americans and Venezuelans with questions as to who would govern Venezuela while Maduro — whose presidency is not recognized by many countries, including the U.S. — faces legal battles in the United States.
RELATED: 'We're going to run it': Trump reveals Venezuela's fate following Maduro's capture
Photo by JUAN BARRETO/AFP via Getty Images
Just hours after the capture, President Donald Trump told reporters that "we're going to run" Venezuela.
"We can't take a chance that somebody else takes over Venezuela that doesn't have the good of the Venezuelan people in mind," Trump said Saturday. "We've had decades of that. We're not going to let that happen."
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Mayor Zohran Mamdani appointed a tenant advocate who wants to “seize private property,” which she sees as a symptom of “white supremacy.”
The post Nolte: Mamdani’s Tenant Advocate Wants to ‘Seize’ ‘White Supremacist’ Private Property appeared first on Breitbart.
Socialist President of Colombia Gustavo Petro published a meandering social media post at 1:28 a.m. local time in which he claimed he was ready to "take up arms" if necessary to fight President Donald Trump, accusing him of making "illegitimate threats" against Bogotá.
The post Colombia’s Guerrilla President Threatens to ‘Take Up Arms Again’ to Fight Trump appeared first on Breitbart.
New York City's newly sworn-in Democratic Socialist mayor, Zohran Mamdani, has already started taking steps to advance his radical agenda by selecting an anti-private-property extremist to lead the Mayor's Office to Protect Tenants.
Mamdani announced on January 2 that Cea Weaver would join his team, noting that she had previously led Housing Justice for All, a coalition of groups representing tenants and homeless New Yorkers, and its sister organization, the New York State Tenant Bloc.
'Private property including any kind of ESPECIALLY homeownership is a weapon of white supremacy.'
Mamdani credited Weaver for helping to pass "landmark legislation that closed loopholes landlords used to raise rents and push apartments out of stabilization."
"Now she'll work with us to hold landlords accountable and ensure New York City tenants are living in safe, clean homes," Mamdani wrote.
Following Weaver's appointment, an undated video resurfaced on social media of the activist discussing her goal to eliminate private property ownership.
"I think the reality is, is that for centuries we've really treated property as an individualized good and not a collective good," Weaver stated in the video. "And transitioning to treating it as a collective good and towards a model of shared equity will require that we think about it differently. And it will mean that families, especially white families but some [people of color] families who are homeowners as well, are going to have a different relationship to property than the one that we currently have."
RELATED: 'Money hungry Jews': Mamdani appointee abruptly quits after her anti-Semitic online posts resurface
Photo by ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon reacted to the resurfaced video of Weaver.
“I don’t think so,” Dhillon wrote. “We have federal housing laws that trump any collective Marxist fantasies.”
Weaver once urged Americans to "elect more communists" in a 2017 post on her now-deactivated X account, the New York Post reported.
She also called to "seize private property."
"Private property including any kind of ESPECIALLY homeownership is a weapon of white supremacy," Weaver reportedly wrote in 2019.
Zohran Mamdani. Photo by ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images
Weaver has previously expressed support for freezing rent, writing in a January 2025 post on Bluesky, "There are lots of things the mayor CANT [sic] do on housing, but freezing the rent is one of the only things they can unilaterally do for 2.4 million New York renters. Policy plans are great, so is a rent freeze."
According to New York City's Tenant Protection Cabinet, 65% of the city's residents are renters.
Democrat Governor Kathy Hochul's office did not respond to a request for comment.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
If it seems like the Democratic Party is divided — that’s because it is. Specifically Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck believes that “there are at least two different kinds of Democrats.”
“Democrats that, you know, might vote for Schumer and ... don’t believe that there’s, you know, this great change coming, and they want the same kind of America that we want. There’s that Democrat, and then there’s the socialist, the revolutionary Democrat,” Glenn explains.
“Democrats became progressive in the early 20th century. And when they became progressives, they did it because the Democrats did not want a revolution. They believed in socialism, they believed in communism. Remember, this is before communism had been tried and failed over and over and over again,” he says.
The progressives had been making the case that “science was going to be able to control society,” and thus, “it would have all the answers.”
“Socialists were like, ‘Yeah, it is the right way, so let’s do it now.’ Progressives said, ‘No, we’ll get to your socialist utopia, but we’ll do it one step at a time.’ You can relate to this because how many times do we have to be Charlie Brown and our own side is Lucy with the football,” Glenn says.
“That’s exactly what I was thinking about as you were laying that out,” BlazeTV host Stu Burguiere chimes in.
“And what was the response from our side?” Glenn asks.
“Our side always said, ‘Look, we just need to win that next election. If we win that next election, we’ll move the ball down. Don’t worry, I’ll hold the ball right here so you can kick it. We just have to win that next election first,’” Burguiere answers.
“And when that was over, what did we do? We hired the world’s largest wrecking ball, Donald Trump. We’re like, ‘We’re done with that. We don’t believe you anymore,’” Glenn says.
After Trump’s first term, the Democrats then ran Joe Biden, who Glenn explains “allows all the chaos to happen.”
“The socialists want all of this chaos. They want all of this control. But so do the Democrats, the new kind of Democrat. They want control. They just want global control. They’re much more fascistic,” he says.
“What do socialists want? They want to control schools. Socialist communists. They want to control schools but so do the authoritarians. They want to control schools. They want a communist system where all the means of production are owned by the people through the state,” he continues.
While these two separate factions begin to look more and more alike, the Democrats still “need the illusion of America.”
“They want the Fed. Do you think the socialists want the Fed? No. The socialists don’t want the WEF. They don’t want just a restructured social order. They want a completely restructured social order. The Democrats, the authoritarian, they want friends in the media. They want friends in tech. Do you think the socialists want friends in the media?” Glenn asks.
“They’ll drag those people out in the streets and beat them to death so fast. And they’ll do the same with the people in tech,” he continues. “OK, that’s what will happen. That’s the difference. You have revolutionaries and then you have politicians.”
Want more from Glenn Beck?To enjoy more of Glenn’s masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis, and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.
The Steelers appealed directly to God on Sunday ahead of their crucial game against the Ravens by starting the game with a priestly blessing.
The post WATCH: Catholic Priest Blesses Steelers’ Field Before Thrilling Win Over Ravens appeared first on Breitbart.
A forceful message from President Donald Trump, warning adversaries in Tehran not to “play games” and underscoring that he “is a man of action,” comes on the heels of recent U.S. action against socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro, sharpening pressure on Iran’s leadership as anti-regime protests spread.
The post ‘Don’t Play Games’: Trump Issues Stark Warning to Iran After Maduro Operation as Anti-Regime Protests Grow appeared first on Breitbart.
Zoe Welsh, a teacher at Raleigh, North Carolina's Ravenscroft School, was attacked and fatally beaten while on the phone with 911 Saturday morning in her home.
The post North Carolina Teacher Fatally Beaten by Alleged Intruder While on 911 Call appeared first on Breitbart.