Venezuela’s ousted leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife Celia Flores have appeared in court in New York, US media reported.
They were taken to the Manhattan courthouse under heavy security.
Maduro pleaded not guilty to drug and weapons charges, criticising the US military operation that led to his capture.
“It’s not my fault,” the 63-year-old man said, adding that he was captured at his home in Caracas and that he still considers himself Venezuela’s president.
Crowds gathered outside the courthouse in New York where Maduro is being held.
Also on Monday, the UN Security Council discussed the situation in Venezuela. Russia and China condemned the US operation in Venezuela.
The United States representative to the UN, Michael Walz, said the removal and detention of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife was a “law enforcement surgery supported by the US military.” He said the US is not at war with Venezuela and is not planning an occupation.
On the night of 3 January, US troops struck military installations in Venezuela’s capital Caracas and captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Celia Flores. US authorities do not consider Maduro to be the legitimate president of Venezuela and accuse him and Flores of conspiring to engage in “narco-terrorism,” importing cocaine, and storing weapons and explosive devices for use against the US.
They were taken to a detention centre in Brooklyn on the evening of January 3.
US President Donald Trump told reporters on 4 January that he may order another strike if Venezuela does not cooperate with the United States.
In an interview with The Atlantic, the American president also threatened Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, saying that “if she doesn’t do the right thing, she will have to pay a very high price, probably higher than Maduro.”