CARACAS: Ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, captured by U.S. forces in a nighttime raid in January, said Saturday they feel “firm” and “serene” in their first social media post from prison.
Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores have been held in a Brooklyn jail for nearly three months after US commandos kidnapped them from their compound in Caracas, and have reportedly been denied access to the Internet or newspapers.
“We are well, firm, serene and in constant prayer,” both said in a message shared on Maduro's X account, although it was not clear who made the publication on his behalf.
“We have received your communications, your messages, your emails, your letters and your prayers. Every word of love, every gesture of affection, every expression of support fills our souls and strengthens us spiritually.”
A source close to the Venezuelan government said AFP that Maduro reads the Bible and is referred to as “president” by some of his fellow detainees at the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center, a federal prison known for its unsanitary conditions.
He is only allowed to communicate by phone with his family and lawyers for a maximum of 15 minutes per call, the source added.
His son, Nicolás Maduro Guerra, known as “Nicolasito,” has said in public appearances that his father is fine, calm and even exercising in prison.
Maduro, who has declared himself a “prisoner of war,” had not spoken since he was arraigned in New York on Jan. 5.
“We feel deep admiration for the ability of our people to remain united in difficult times, to express love, conscience and solidarity, within Venezuela and beyond our borders,” the couple added in Saturday's publication.
During an hour-long hearing Thursday, the judge rejected a defense motion over Maduro and his wife's apparent inability to pay their legal bill without help from the Venezuelan government. Neither man spoke during the court appearance.
Maduro has pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to “narcoterrorism,” conspiracy to import cocaine, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices.
The January operation toppled Maduro, who had led Venezuela since 2013, forcing the oil-rich country to largely bow to the will of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Delcy Rodríguez, who had been Maduro's vice president since 2018, is now in charge and fighting to lead a country loaded with the world's largest proven oil reserves but with an economy in ruins.
Since Maduro's overthrow, Rodríguez has enacted a historic amnesty law to free political prisoners imprisoned during his term and has reformed oil and mining regulations in line with American demands for access to his country's vast natural wealth.
This month, the State Department said it was restoring diplomatic relations with Venezuela in a sign of a thaw.
