Good morning from the Financial Times.
Today is Tuesday, January 6.
This is your FT News Briefing.
Ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro appeared in a U.S.
court yesterday,
and smaller private investors are jockeying for a position in Venezuela's oil market.
Plus,
we'll take a look at how Southeast Asia has been able to weather President Donald Trump's tariff storm.
I'm Mark Filipino, and here's the news you need to start your day.
Protesters gathered outside a courthouse in Manhattan yesterday.
They demanded that Nicolas Maduro and his wife be freed.
The two were captured in a U.S.
military operation in Caracas over the weekend,
and they were charged with narco-terrorism, drug trafficking, and firearms offenses.
Maduro denied the charges, saying in court, quote, I'm innocent,
I'm not guilty, I'm a decent man, the president of my country.
Investors were in somewhat good spirits despite the weekend's geopolitical turmoil.
The S&P 500 ticked up a little bit more than half of a percent yesterday,
and Venezuelan debt surged by almost 30 percent.
The country's bonds have been in default since 2017,