The former strongman of Venezuela and his wife, arrested in their palace in Caracas and incarcerated in the United States, wrote a message relayed on X by their relatives on the eve of Holy Week.
Deposed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, captured in Caracas on January 3 during a spectacular American operation, said on Saturday they felt “strong, serene”, in their first message since their incarceration. “We are well, we are strong, serene and in constant prayer,” the ex-leader and his wife Cilia Flores wrote in a message relayed on X by their loved ones, on the eve of Holy Week, a period of great importance in this predominantly Catholic country.
“We have received your communications, your messages, your emails, your letters and your prayers,” it added. “Every word of love, every sign of affection, every expression of support fills our souls and strengthens us spiritually.” They have since been incarcerated in a high-security prison in the New York neighborhood of Brooklyn.
“Prisoner de guerre”
Prosecuted for drug trafficking, the couple briefly appeared Thursday in court in the American megacity, without speaking. In detention, Mr. Maduro has neither newspapers nor the internet but is allowed to speak by telephone with his family and his lawyers for 15 minutes, according to a source close to the leader.
Nicolas Maduro had not spoken since a first hearing in New York on January 5. Combative, he then presented himself as “the president of the Republic of Venezuela” in office, “kidnapped” by the United States, and therefore defining himself as a “prisoner of war”. Since then, his son, Nicolas Maduro Guerra, has said that his father is doing well and that he is exercising in prison, where he is allowed an hour of daily walks.
Â
