Nicolas Maduro pleaded not guilty on Monday to U.S. charges in a narco-terrorism case against him just two days after the U.S. captured him in Caracas during a nighttime raid.

Maduro was escorted in front of a federal judge in Lower Manhattan to face the charges against him in the first hearing in his criminal case, kicking off an extraordinary legal battle that could take months or longer before he faces trial.

¡°I am innocent,¡± Maduro said through an interpreter. ¡°I am not guilty. I am a decent man. I am president of my country.¡±

Maduro¡¯s wife, Cilia Flores, who was also in court, pleaded not guilty to the three charges she faces. Both were wearing headphones in court for translation purposes. The hearing began with the judge reading the charges against Maduro and his wife.

In an indictment released over the weekend, the U.S. government accused Maduro of conspiring to transport thousands of tons of cocaine to the country. The toppling of Maduro reverberated around the world and signaled President Donald Trump¡¯s willingness to reconfigure the global order.

After Maduro was captured in the military operation early Saturday, he and his wife were transported to the notorious Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. On Monday morning, they arrived by helicopter at a Manhattan heliport before he was taken to the courthouse for the hearing.

U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, 92, will preside over the case and oversee an eventual trial before a jury of New York citizens. The judge is expected to order Maduro to remain in jail and may set a date for lawyers to file pre-trial legal motions.

¡°At this this point in time, I only want to know one thing. Are you Nicolas Maduro Moros?¡± the judge asked at the hearing. Maduro stood as an interpreter repeated the question and confirmed his identity. He then waived a public reading of the indictment in court.

Hellerstein then read Maduro his legal rights, including that he has a right to a lawyer and a right to remain silent.