U.S. allows Venezuelan government funds to be used for Nicolás Maduro’s defense in New York case

What changed in court on Friday?

Prosecutors informed the court that the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control had issued amended licenses so defense lawyers for Maduro and Flores could be paid by the Venezuelan government under certain conditions NYT,TASS.

Why was the payment issue important to the case?

Defense lawyers said the sanctions-related payment block prevented Maduro from using his chosen counsel and asked for the indictment to be dismissed on that basis; the judge had also pressed the government about its reasoning at a March hearing Bloomberg Business,ThePrint.

What happens next?

With the licenses now in place, the defense has withdrawn its dismissal motions tied to the funding dispute, meaning the case can proceed without that immediate challenge; one report says the parties asked for the next hearing within two months Oxu.Az,Рамблер.