A U.S. sanctions waiver just let Venezuela pay Nicolás Maduro's legal fees. The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued amended licenses allowing the Venezuelan government to use certain funds for defense costs only if the money became available after March 5, 2026 and not from restricted foreign government deposit accounts. The move removes a major hurdle to the federal prosecution in New York, lets defense teams review evidence and move into discovery, and tests how sanctions policy can be flexed to protect Sixth Amendment rights without broadly loosening pressure on Caracas.

What changed in court - Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York told the court that OFAC issued amended licenses permitting Venezuela to pay defense attorneys for Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores de Maduro, resolving a dispute that threatened pretrial delay. - Defense counsel had argued defendants are entitled to use government-held resources to hire lawyers; prosecutors had opposed, saying Maduro improperly took state wealth. Judge Alvin Hellerstein signaled he could dismiss the case if funding couldn’t be secured. - After the licenses were issued, the defense withdrew earlier motions seeking dismissal "without prejudice," and both sides asked the court to set a status conference about 60 days out and to pause the speedy-trial clock while discovery is reviewed. Terms of the licenses - Prosecutors’ joint filing lists conditions: any Venezuelan funds used for legal fees must have become available after March 5, 2026. - The funds may not be drawn from restricted foreign government deposit accounts. Prosecutors say those conditions address defense concerns and remove an obstacle to pretrial work. Criminal case and custody - Maduro and his wife were captured on Jan. 3 during a U.S. raid in Caracas and flown to New York, where they were arraigned on Jan. 5 on charges that include drug trafficking; both have pleaded not guilty. - The indictment alleges decades-long cooperation with violent traffickers and corrupt officials to ship large quantities of cocaine into the United States. Maduro is being held in an enhanced-security unit at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. Legal implications - With narrowly defined funding authorized, defense teams can formally accept and review prosecutorial disclosures and prepare motions challenging evidence, jurisdiction or other issues. - The focus shifts to standard pretrial litigation matters — chain-of-evidence, witness statements, privilege claims and Brady obligations — rather than procedural fights over counsel funding, reducing the immediate risk of dismissal on Sixth Amendment grounds. Political and economic stakes - The licenses alter limited aspects of OFAC’s sanctions controls, which could have signaling effects given how the U.S. uses asset restrictions against Caracas. The change is narrowly framed to permit defense funding under defined conditions.

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Both sides have asked the court to set a status conference about 60 days out and to pause the speedy-trial clock while defense counsel review discovery.

This article was created with AI assistance.