Maduro says ‘I was captured’ as he pleads not guilty to drug trafficking charges

NEW YORK (AP) — A defiant Nicolás Maduro declared himself the “president of my country” as he protested his capture and pleaded not guilty on Monday to the federal drug trafficking charges that the Trump administration used to justify removing him from power.

“I was captured,” Maduro said in Spanish as translated by a courtroom reporter before being cut off by the judge. Asked later for his plea to the charges, he stated: ““I’m innocent. I am not guilty. I am a decent man, the president of my country.”

The courtroom appearance...