Nicolás Maduro has released the first known images of himself from inside a New York prison, eight months after he was detained by US forces and transferred to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
The photographs show the deposed Venezuelan president smiling, dressed in a tracksuit and making a victory sign with both hands. In one image he is wearing glasses, while in another he holds them in his hand. Maduro accompanied the photographs with a message to his family, saying: “Quiero que sepan que estamos firmes” — “I want you to know that we remain firm.”
Maduro said the images were a “small gift of love and hope” to his grandchildren, children and supporters. “Envío estas fotos como un pequeño regalo a todos mis nietos y nietas, a los niños y niñas, y a toda la gente noble que nos ama,” he wrote on his X account.
People close to Maduro said the photographs were taken on 25 June during Father’s Day week. According to his entourage, Maduro saw them on 13 July and they arrived by post this week before being made public.
The release of the photographs came two days after the government now headed by Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro’s former vice-president, announced an agreement with the administration of US President Donald Trump under which Venezuela would cede 65,000 million barrels of oil to the United States, representing about 22% of the country’s total reserves.
Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, have been held at the Metropolitan Detention Center since January following their detention during Operation Absolute Resolve. Both pleaded not guilty at their first hearing in January to four charges related to narcoterrorism in the United States.
“I am innocent. I am not guilty. I am a decent man. I am still president of my country,” Maduro said through an interpreter. Flores also pleaded not guilty.
Appearing before US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, Maduro portrayed himself as a victim of the operation, saying: “I am president of Venezuela and I am here kidnapped.” His lawyer described the operation to capture him in Caracas as a “military kidnapping”. As he left the courtroom, Maduro declared: “I am a prisoner of war.”
His trial, involving both Maduro and Flores, is scheduled to begin in June 2027 after Hellerstein approved an agreed timetable proposed by prosecutors and defence lawyers. Before the trial begins, however, a hearing is scheduled for 17 November to consider the defence argument that Maduro is entitled to immunity as a head of state, a claim that could challenge the entire proceedings.
Little has emerged about Maduro’s life in prison. During Easter, rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine provided some of the first details after spending several days in the same cell as Maduro. Maduro’s son, Nicolás Maduro Guerra, later described his father’s routine, saying he initially spent his first months in isolation before sharing a bunk with other prisoners and watching television.
According to his son, Maduro was given coffee, found the food too spicy and used a desk to write and read the Bible “obsessively”. While he had previously expressed devotion to Indian spiritual leader Sathya Sai Baba, his messages since his imprisonment have contained frequent references to the Bible.
Maduro calls Caracas every day and is allowed 510 minutes a month for conversations with the outside world, with individual calls limited to 16 minutes. Meanwhile, the city he once governed is gradually losing the posters that demanded his return.
