Story perspectives

Treasury Eases Sanctions, Judge Upholds Maduro Defense Funding

4/25/2026

Summary

Story summary

U.S. Treasury changed sanctions to let Venezuela fund former President Nicolás Maduro’s defense, ending a month-long funding dispute.
Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores remain detained in Brooklyn after prosecutors and defense attorneys filed a joint letter that funds must be available March 5 2026 and cannot come from foreign-government deposit accounts.
Judge Alvin Hellerstein refused to dismiss the case, saying the right to counsel outweighs any national-security justification for the sanctions.

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Story summary

U.S. Treasury changed sanctions to let Venezuela fund former President Nicolás Maduro’s defense, ending a month-long funding dispute.
Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores remain detained in Brooklyn after prosecutors and defense attorneys filed a joint letter that funds must be available March 5 2026 and cannot come from foreign-government deposit accounts.
Judge Alvin Hellerstein refused to dismiss the case, saying the right to counsel outweighs any national-security justification for the sanctions.