00:00And in the United States several citizens have gathered in front of the Federal Court of the South District in
00:06Manhattan to demonstrate their support for Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Celia Flores.
00:11Our colleague Henry Camelo brings us more details.
00:15Hello, greetings to you and the Telesur Orders.
00:18I'm in front of the Federal Court of the South District in Manhattan where today there is a court day
00:26for President Venezuela Nicolás Maduro as well.
00:30As for his wife, the First Lady Celia Flores, and a lot of supporters came just to show their solidarity
00:39with President Maduro and his wife.
00:43Precisely, I'm here with one of the supporters. Your name?
00:47Yes, my name is Colin.
00:49Colin, why did you come here today and why is it important to show support to President Nicolás Maduro?
00:57Definitely. Well, I mean, first off, he was kidnapped.
01:00He's the sovereign elected leader of a sovereign country, and the United States has no right to kidnap him and
01:05try to dictate the future of Venezuela.
01:07That's for the people of Venezuela to decide.
01:09Today, in the courthouse, what they're considering is the fact that the United States government has made it impossible for
01:16President Maduro and First Lady Celia Flores to even pay for their own attorneys because the government has implemented sanctions
01:24that block them from paying for their legal defense.
01:27So their attorneys have not been able to effectively prepare the case because the U.S. government is making it
01:33impossible for them to do so.
01:35That's a violation of the Sixth Amendment of the Constitution, which gives any defendant in the United States criminal court
01:41the right to their chosen counsel.
01:43And it's outrageous that the government is preventing him.
01:46This is not a fair trial. This is a sham. It's ridiculous.
01:50So we're out here saying it cannot stand.
01:52We do not support this.
01:54We want the charges to be dismissed, and we want President Maduro and First Lady Celia Flores to be back
01:58in Venezuela where they belong with their people, with their country.
02:01What does it mean for you to see all these people coming so early to show support to President Maduro
02:08and his wife?
02:09I think it shows that it's something that matters greatly to the people who live here.
02:13We have people from all over the country.
02:15We have many people here with us from Venezuela as well.
02:18But even for New Yorkers, you know, that's also money and resources that should be going towards New Yorkers, towards
02:24people who live here.
02:25We have a lot of struggles to fund education and housing and health care.
02:29And instead, the government is spending thousands of dollars every day, millions of dollars to go and attack Venezuela,
02:36and then to lock up Maduro and Celia Flores is a huge waste of resources.
02:42And it's ridiculous.
02:43And I think a lot of the people in Brooklyn who have been held in these same jails on ridiculous
02:48trumped-up charges, they see this.
02:50They see that this is a sham.
02:52And people are outraged.
02:54People are very, very unhappy that this complete travesty and injustice is happening in our city.
03:00Thank you very much.
03:03We'll continue here in front of the corona court date for President Maduro and his wife, the First Lady Celia
03:14Flores.
03:14We'll bring you all the latest of today's court date.
03:19Coming back to you.
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