Nicolas Maduro, taken into custody in the US. Photo: jessica daly / Alamy / Profimedia
A federal judge in Argentina officially asked the United States on Wednesday to extradite Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, arrested in January by American military forces and currently imprisoned in New York, where he is being tried for drug trafficking, reports AFP.
Magistrate Sebastian Ramos requests to bring Maduro to hearings as part of an investigation for crimes against humanity, citing as a legal basis the principle of universal jurisdiction, enshrined in the Argentine Constitution.
Another Argentine judge had already requested Maduro's arrest in 2024, in the same case.
Argentina's courts have tried international cases in the past on the basis of universal jurisdiction over crimes such as genocide or crimes against humanity, AFP notes.
Nicolas Maduro, the 63-year-old president of Venezuela, was captured and arrested in a US special forces operation on January 3, after more than a decade in power, during which the South American country has seen a dramatic involution towards authoritarianism and faced a collapse in living standards. In the US, he is on trial for “narco-terrorism”.
Nicolas Maduro's first statements from prison in New York. The Venezuelan leader reveals what is happening to him behind bars
