News
Stephon Nicholas
FORMER St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves has questioned whether Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro can get a fair trial in the US.
In a media conference on January 5, two days after Maduro and his wife were captured by US military in Caracas. At least 80 people, including members of the Maduro’s personal bodyguard team, were killed in the US operation.
Gonsalves said trumped up charges against people have occurred in the past as he warned that US President Donald Trump is re-establishing the principles of the Monroe Doctrine and seeking to dominate the hemisphere.
Maduro has been charged with narco-terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine, possession of machine guns and conspiracy to possess machine guns.
Hours before Maduro was expected to appear in a New York federal court on January 5, Gonsalves asked whether Maduro could get fair trial there.
He noted that even Trump in 2024 had claimed he could not get a fair trial in the US when charged with mishandling classified documents after leaving the White House.
Gonsalves said military operations by the US must not be conflated with actual law enforcement.
He said, “What has occurred in Venezuela is an undermining of the multilateral system and enthronement of unilateralism, and President Trump is not making any bones about it.”