The Federal Court of the Southern District of New York confirmed for this Wednesday, July 22, a new hearing to follow up on the judicial process being carried out against Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, who remain detained in a jail in that city.
The appearance is scheduled for 12:00 pm local time and corresponds to a hearing to review the status of the case after having been postponed since last June 30, at the request of the Federal Prosecutor’s Office with the consent of the defense, for “problems related to providing safe transportation and security“, according to the document submitted to the court.
The judicial authorities clarified that this Wednesday’s hearing does not correspond to the beginning of the trial nor does it contemplate the issuance of a sentence. Its objective is to evaluate the progress of the process, review the exchange of evidence between the parties and define the schedule of the motions that must be resolved before the oral phase of the trial, as reported by VPItv.
Sources close to the process They estimate that the trial could take several more months to begin due to the complexity of the file and the volume of evidence presented by the Prosecutor’s Office. The process has aroused broad international interest due to the political and diplomatic implications it represents for relations between the United States and Venezuela.
For this Wednesday’s hearing, extensive security is planned around the Federal Court in New York.
Maduro and Flores remain held in the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center since their capture in Caracas on January 3, 2026.
Both face charges of alleged narcoterrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States and other crimes related to the use of weapons. During the hearings held previously, both have pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against them by the American justice system.
