The magistrate handling the case against the President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores, rejected the request from their lawyers to dismiss the drug trafficking case. During the hearing in New York, Maduro was observed to be thinner and with grey hair. Judge Alvin Hellerstein stated: «I am not going to ignore the case» in reference to Maduro and Flores, who face drug trafficking and corruption charges from the US justice system. Maduro exhibited a limp and was dressed in a prison uniform: khaki trousers and a short-sleeved shirt over an orange T-shirt.
The judge dismisses the rejection of Maduro’s case in the US, although he questions the sanctions that limit his defence.
