Argentina requests extradition of Maduro from the US on crimes against
humanity charges
[February 05, 2026]
By SERGIO FARELLA
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — An Argentine judge on Wednesday requested
the extradition from the United States of former Venezuelan President
Nicolás Maduro, who was captured by the U.S. military last month and now
faces federal charges of narco-terrorism and conspiracy to import
cocaine in New York.
The inquest from Argentina, whose judges have aggressively pursued human
rights abuse cases beyond its borders, accuses Maduro of having
committed crimes against humanity in overseeing a harsh crackdown on
protesters and political opponents as president.
“The urgent translation of the international request and the
documentation attached thereto is hereby ordered,” said the warrant,
which was signed by Argentine federal judge Sebastián Ramos and seen by
The Associated Press.
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, filed in Buenos Aires in 2023 by human rights organizations
representing the victims, relies on the principle of universal
jurisdiction, a legal concept that allows for the prosecution in
Argentina of anyone from any country who commits crimes like genocide or
terrorism anywhere in the world.
Argentina’s foreign ministry must now present the request to the Trump
administration, which is unlikely to comply as Maduro and his wife Cilia
Flores await trial in a Brooklyn jail on charges that they worked with
drug cartels to facilitate the shipment of thousands of tons of cocaine
into the U.S over a 25-year period.
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Even so, one of the organizations that filed the case hailed the
request as an important milestone “for Argentina, for justice, and
above all, for Venezuelan victims who dared to speak out.”
“Beyond this specific resolution, there remains the satisfaction of
having stood up to the powerful, fiercely defending human rights,”
wrote the Argentine Forum for the Defense of Democracy.
In asking the U.S. to hand Maduro over to Argentina, the warrant
cites the 1997 extradition treaty between the countries and
acknowledges Maduro’s recent capture.
An Argentine court first issued an international arrest warrant for
Maduro in 2024. Following the U.S. military operation that ousted
Maduro on Jan. 3, Argentine federal prosecutors asked Judge Ramos to
request the extradition for the crimes-against-humanity
investigation.
As one of just a handful of countries whose law permits the
investigation of crimes-against-humanity cases beyond its borders,
Argentina has increasingly taken center stage in lawsuits ranging
from the torture of dissidents under Franco’s dictatorship in Spain
to atrocities committed by the military against Rohingya Muslims in
Myanmar.
President Javier Milei of Argentina, the region’s most prominent
right-wing leader and ally of President Donald Trump, has cheered
the U.S. military seizure of Maduro.
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