Maduro's Nightmare Begins: Inside NYC's Brutal Prison Holding the Fallen Dictator and His Wife

Nicolas Maduro, 63, and his wife Cilia Flores, 69, have been placed in separate solitary confinement cells within the notoriously harsh Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, far from the general population, following their sudden capture by U.S. forces in Caracas early Saturday, the New York Post reports. Outside the facility, heavily armed officers in combat gear oversee the area as supporters and opponents of the accused narcotrafficker gather nearby.

Maduro, who once resided in Venezuela’s presidential palace and drew international attention for a public display of luxury, is now awaiting trial in a prison “once sued over its alleged maggot-infested food, dirty cells and frequent power outages,” according to The Post.

The detention center in Sunset Park has a reputation for problematic conditions. Critics have argued that it is plagued by neglect and safety issues, with reports of power outages, heating failures in winter, and inadequate medical care. The Legal Aid Society issued a statement expressing concerns about the center’s long-standing issues, including maggot-infested meals and chronic understaffing that has raised questions about inmate welfare. The facility has faced lawsuits from federal defenders and others alleging inhumane conditions and poor maintenance. An infamous winter incident in 2019 left inmates without heat or electricity for a week.

Venezuelan comedian Gabriel Bonilla, who fled to Argentina in 2017, told The Post that U.S. prisons are far better than the harsh, torturous conditions people face in Venezuelan prisons.

“The worst prison in the United States is a mansion compared to the prisons and holes where people have been tortured for years in Venezuela,” Bonilla said.

Brooklyn’s federal detention facilities—which have incarcerated figures from Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán to music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs and the accused healthcare CEO Luigi Mangione—offer a stark contrast to the opulent lifestyle that the infamously brutal dictator once enjoyed during his tyrannical reign. According to The Post, “Maduro — who lived in Venezuela’s opulent presidential palace and famously publicly chomped on a gourmet steak dinner in Istanbul in 2018, infuriating his struggling countrymen.”

According to The Post, the U.S. captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro early Saturday in a swift military operation, ending his repressive rule and marking a “new dawn” for the nation. About 150 aircraft joined Operation Absolute Resolve, launched after months of U.S. pressure and completed in under two and a half hours. Precision strikes around Caracas targeted key military sites before troops seized Maduro and his wife near the gates of his fortified compound

Maduro is expected to appear in Manhattan federal court for a noon arraignment on Monday.