Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro on Monday entered a not-guilty plea to the narcotics charges, days after his dramatic capture ordered by U.S. President Donald Trump. The arrest has since sent shockwaves through the international community and has let authorities in Venezuela struggling to regain control.

In the court house, Maduro was shackled at the ankles and dressed in orange and beige prison clothing, saying he had been “kidnapped” and was insisting that he was still Venezuela’s president. He followed the proceedings through an interpreter as Alvin Hellerstein, the 92 year old Judge hearing Maduro’s case outlined the charges against him.

Nicolas Maduro is alleged to have directed a cocaine trafficking network with linked to international drug cartels and is facing four criminal charges, including narco-terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine, as well as possession of machine guns and other destructive weapons.

Maduro has always rejected the accusations, insisting they are just cover for what he describes as imperialist ambitions aimed at seizing Venezuela’s vast oil reserves. “I am innocent. I am not guilty. I am a decent man. I am still president of my country,” he said through an interpreter.

Cilia Flores, Maduro’s wife also pleaded not guilty, with the court scheduling the next hearing for March 17. Meanwhile, dozens of protesters, both supporting and opposing Maduro, gathered outside the courtside in New York, ahead of the brief hearing.

Hours after the court proceedings, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez was sworn in as Venezuela’s interim president. In her address, she voiced her support for Maduro insisting that the U.S. should release the Venezuela’s president but gave no sign on whether she would challenge the United Sates’s actions.

United States President Donald Trump told a news media that the United States was not at war with Venezuela itself, but with drug traffickers, saying, “we’re at war with the people that sell drugs.”

Trump further added that the United States would first need to help stabilize the country before any new elections could be held, dismissing suggestions of a vote within 30 days as unrealistic. “We have to fix the country first. You can’t have an election. There’s no way the people could even vote,” Trump said.