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.”