Inside the Legal Defense of Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores

As former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, face federal charges in the United States, attention has turned to the legal teams representing them in court.

Both defendants pleaded not guilty during their arraignment in Manhattan, where they are charged with offenses including narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine trafficking, and weapons-related crimes.

Maduro is represented by Barry Pollack, a Washington-based defense lawyer known for handling high-profile cases involving national security and public corruption. Pollack previously represented WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and has defended corporate executives in major fraud prosecutions. He appeared alongside Maduro during the arraignment proceedings.

Flores is represented by Mark Donnelly, a Houston-based lawyer with extensive experience as a former federal and state prosecutor. Donnelly spent more than a decade at the U.S. Department of Justice and previously worked in the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, focusing on public integrity and fraud cases. His firm describes his practice as centered on white-collar criminal defense and complex litigation.

The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, one of the Justice Department’s most prominent offices.