Venezuelan Dissident Explains His Courtroom Confrontation With Maduro
Pedro Rojas, who said he had been a political prisoner in Venezuela, later apologized for his outburst.
Pedro Rojas, 33, a Venezuelan dissident, talks to reporters outside the Daniel Patrick Moynihan U.S. Courthouse in New York City following the arraignment of former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro on Jan. 5, 2026. Arjun Singh/The Epoch Times
NEW YORK CITY—A Venezuelan dissident explained why he confronted his country’s former leader, Nicolás Maduro, inside a federal courtroom in the borough of Manhattan during the latter’s arraignment on Jan. 5.
At the end of the hearing, during which Maduro and his wife pleaded not guilty to narco-terrorism charges, Pedro Rojas, 33, called Maduro an “illegitimate” leader.
Jackson Richman is a Washington correspondent for The Epoch Times. In addition to Washington politics, he covers the intersection of politics and sports/sports and culture. He previously was a writer at Mediaite and Washington correspondent at Jewish News Syndicate. His writing has also appeared in The Washington Examiner. He is an alum of George Washington University.
