The United States allows Venezuela to finance the defense of Maduro and Flores

The United States Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has given the green light to the Government of Venezuela to use state funds in the legal defense of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. Both are imprisoned in the United States on drug trafficking charges.

In an official statement, OFAC has indicated that "the parties write jointly to inform the Court that the Office of Foreign Assets Control has issued amended licenses to the attorneys of defendants Nicolás Maduro Moros and Cilia Flores de Maduro." This document was signed by prosecutor Jay Clayton on April 24, 2026 and is addressed to Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein, who is presiding over the case.

The amended licenses allow defense attorneys to receive payments from the Government of Venezuela, always under certain conditions. According to the text, payments must be made with funds that are available to the Venezuelan Government after March 5, 2026 and must not come from Deposit Funds of Foreign Governments.

Previously, US authorities had prohibited the use of Venezuelan funds for the defense of Maduro and Flores, arguing that this would violate sanctions imposed on Venezuela. However, Maduro and his wife argued that this ban violated their right to a fair trial, requesting the dismissal of the charges against them.

With the recent authorization, the defendants believe that the "underlying issues" regarding the financing of their defense have been resolved. Therefore, they have decided to withdraw the previous motions they had presented, although they reserve the right to reintroduce them if similar problems arise in the future.

At a hearing in March, Judge Hellerstein questioned the prosecution's refusal to allow the Venezuelan government to fund Maduro's defense. The judge argued that the United States maintains commercial relations with Venezuela and that both Maduro and Flores no longer reside in the South American country.

The capture of Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores occurred on January 3, 2026 during a US military operation that resulted in the death of more than a hundred people. After the raid, both were transferred and imprisoned in New York. So far, they have pleaded not guilty to the crimes they are accused of, which include activities related to drug trafficking and conspiracy to introduce cocaine into the United States.