BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — An Argentine judge on Wednesday requested the extradition of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from the United States. Maduro was captured by U.S. forces last month and faces federal charges of narco-terrorism and conspiring to import cocaine in New York.
Argentinian judges have aggressively pursued cases of human rights abuses abroad, investigating allegations that Maduro committed crimes against humanity while overseeing a harsh crackdown on protesters and political opponents during his presidency.
“The urgent translation of the international request and its accompanying documents is hereby ordered,” said the arrest warrant, signed by Argentine federal judge Sebastian Ramos and seen by The Associated Press.
Plaintiffs include Venezuelans who have suffered abuses including torture, arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances by Venezuelan security forces and intelligence agents.
The case, filed in Buenos Aires in 2023 by human rights groups representing victims, was based on the principle of universal jurisdiction, a legal concept that allows the prosecution in Argentina of anyone from any country who committed crimes such as genocide or terrorism anywhere in the world.
Argentina’s foreign ministry must now make the request to the Trump administration, which is unlikely to agree as Maduro and his wife, Celia Flores, await trial in a Brooklyn jail on charges they worked with drug cartels to help transport thousands of tons of cocaine to the United States over 25 years.
Even so, one of the groups that filed the lawsuit hailed the request as “an important milestone for Argentina, for justice, and especially for the Venezuelan victims who dare to speak out.”
“Beyond this specific resolution, we remain satisfied with the courage to confront powerful forces and the resolute defense of human rights,” wrote the Forum for the Defense of Democracy in Argentina.
In asking the United States to hand Maduro over to Argentina, the arrest warrant cited a 1997 extradition treaty between the two countries and acknowledged Maduro’s recent arrest.
An Argentine court issued an international arrest warrant for Maduro for the first time in 2024. After the U.S. military operation that ousted Maduro on January 3, Argentine federal prosecutors asked Judge Ramos to request extradition to investigate crimes against humanity.
As one of the few countries with laws that allow cases of crimes against humanity to be investigated abroad, Argentina has increasingly taken center stage in proceedings, from the torture of dissidents under Spain’s Franco dictatorship to atrocities committed by Myanmar’s military against Rohingya Muslims.
Argentine President Javier Milley, the region’s most prominent right-wing leader and an ally of President Donald Trump, welcomed the U.S. military capture of Maduro.
