Former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro has shared photographs appearing to show him inside a New York prison for the first time since his capture by US forces in January.
Maduro, who was flown to the US following a major military operation in Caracas, has been held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn for eight months on drug trafficking charges.
The photographs, posted on Maduro’s X account on Sunday, show him wearing a matching grey sweatsuit and white sneakers, standing against a plain wall. He appears noticeably thinner.
Maduro said he shared the images as a small gift of hope to his family and supporters, saying he and his wife, Cilia Flores, remained “strong, serene, and confident” and that Venezuela would be reborn, Fox News reports.
“I send these photos as a small gift to all my grandsons and granddaughters, to the boys and girls, and to all the noble people who love us,” Maduro said, according to the American outlet.
“I want you to know that we stand firm, with our hearts full of your love, that love that reaches us transformed into prayer, into constant action, into solidarity and true support,” he added.
“Enjoy this small gift with joy and hope. Cilia and I embrace you forever, with our souls devoted to you and with our faith in God intact,” Maduro said, referring to his wife, who was also flown to New York on related drug trafficking charges.
Although Maduro made the post on Sunday morning, timestamps on the two photographs reportedly indicate they were taken on Jun 25, one day after two major earthquakes killed more than 6,500 people in northern Venezuela near Caracas.
The images were released two days after President Donald Trump announced a breakthrough in US-Venezuela relations, with Venezuela agreeing to give the US majority control over 65 billion barrels of oil from its reserves.
The deal marks a major development for the US oil market as the ongoing war with Iran continues to push up prices at the pump, Fox News said.
Since his detention, Maduro has reportedly spent much of his time reading the Bible, his son Nicolás Maduro Guerra told El País in May.
He also has 510 minutes a month, or 8.5 hours, for conversations with people outside the prison.
Maduro and Flores are likely to go on trial in New York in June 2027.
Both have pleaded not guilty and face potential life sentences if convicted of conspiring to send cocaine into the US.
