India, Jan. 6 -- NEW YORK, January 6 - In his first U.S. court appearance, toppled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro pleaded not guilty to narco-terrorism charges Monday while defiantly declaring his capture a kidnapping. The hearing set the stage for a legal battle that will center on the legality of the American military operation that brought him from Caracas to New York.

Maduro, 63, directly challenged the court's jurisdiction from the outset. Speaking through an interpreter, he stated, "I am innocent. I am not guilty. I am a decent man. I am still president of my country," before the judge intervened.

He framed his presence as the result of an illegal act. "I'm here kidnapped since January 3, Saturday," Maduro told U.S. District ...