Buenos Aires, Argentina – An Argentine judge on Wednesday asked the United States to extradite the former Venezuelan president Nicolas MaduroWho was he? It was seized by the US Army last month and now faces federal charges of drug terrorism and conspiracy to import cocaine in New York.
The investigation from Argentina, which its judges vigorously pursued Cases of human rights violations Beyond its borders, Maduro is accused of crimes against humanity in overseeing a harsh crackdown on protesters and political opponents as president.
“The urgent translation of the international application and the documents attached thereto is hereby ordered,” said the memorandum, signed by Argentine federal judge Sebastian Ramos and seen by The Associated Press.
The plaintiffs include Venezuelans who suffered torture, arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance, among other abuses, at the hands of Venezuelan security forces and intelligence agents.
The case, brought by human rights organizations representing victims in Buenos Aires in 2023, relies on the principle of universal jurisdiction, a legal concept that allows for the prosecution of any person from any country in Argentina who commits crimes such as genocide or terrorism anywhere in the world.
The Argentine Foreign Ministry must now submit the request to the Trump administration, which is unlikely to comply because Maduro and his wife, Celia Flores, are awaiting trial in a Brooklyn prison on charges of working with drug cartels to facilitate drug shipments. Thousands of tons of cocaine To the United States over 25 years.
However, one of the organizations that brought the case hailed the request as an important milestone “for Argentina, for justice and, above all, for the Venezuelan victims who dared to speak out.”
“Beyond this specific resolution, there remains a sense of satisfaction in standing up to the powerful who fiercely defend human rights,” the Argentine Forum for the Defense of Democracy wrote.
In calling on the United States to extradite Maduro to Argentina, the arrest warrant cites a 1997 extradition treaty between the two countries and acknowledges Maduro’s recent arrest.
An Argentine court for the first time issued an international arrest warrant for Maduro in 2024. Following the US military operation that ousted Maduro on January 3, Argentine federal prosecutors asked Judge Ramos to request his extradition for investigation of crimes against humanity.
As one of the few countries whose law allows crimes against humanity to be investigated beyond its borders, Argentina has increasingly taken center stage in lawsuits ranging from… Torture of dissidents under Franco’s dictatorship In Spain for Atrocities committed by the army Against the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.
Argentine President Javier Miley, the most prominent right-wing leader in the region and an ally of President Donald Trump, He cheered US military takeover of Maduro.