Daijiworld Media Network – New York

New York, Apr 25: US federal prosecutors have said the Treasury Department has issued amended licences allowing lawyers for Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores de Maduro to be paid by the Venezuelan government, removing a major hurdle in the ongoing drug trafficking case in New York.

The move resolves a dispute over legal funding that had raised the possibility of delays and even prompted the defence to seek dismissal of the case.

According to prosecutors, the licences issued by the Office of Foreign Assets Control permit the use of Venezuelan funds under strict conditions, including that the money must have become available after March 5, 2026, and must not come from restricted foreign government deposit accounts.

Following the development, the defence has withdrawn its motions seeking dismissal, though without prejudice.

Both sides have now requested the court to schedule a status conference in about 60 days and pause the speedy trial clock to allow prosecutors to share evidence and the defence to review materials and consider pretrial motions.

The funding dispute had surfaced during a hearing last month when prosecutors argued Maduro should not be allowed to use Venezuelan state resources for his legal defence.

However, Maduro’s lawyer Barry Pollack had argued his client was entitled to use available resources to defend himself.

Judge Alvin Hellerstein had also raised concerns over whether restricting legal funding could affect the defendants’ right to representation.

Maduro and his wife were taken into custody in January and brought to New York, where they pleaded not guilty to charges including drug trafficking.

Federal prosecutors have accused Maduro and his alleged associates of working over decades with violent drug trafficking networks to funnel cocaine into the United States.

Maduro is currently lodged in a high-security unit at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn pending trial.