Deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro said he was “standing firm” in a statement shared on social media Sunday along with photos from the New York prison where he has been held since his capture by American forces.
Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured during a U.S. military operation in Caracas in January following President Donald Trump’s months-long campaign against his regime, including a series of lethal strikes on boats off Venezuela’s coast.
“I am sending these photos as a small gift to all my grandchildren, to the boys and girls, and to all the good people who love us,” Maduro wrote on X in Spanish.
“I want you to know that we are standing firm, with our hearts full of your love,” he continued.
Maduro shared two photographs of himself in a gray tracksuit making peace signs with his hands. He also appeared to have lost weight since he was taken into U.S. custody earlier this year.
Even though the two photographs of Maduro were only shared Sunday, a timestamp on the bottom of each image indicates that they were taken on June 25 — a day after two powerful earthquakes killed more than 6,500 people in Venezuela.
“We will remain strong, calm and confident: God is with us. God will provide. Venezuela will rise again,” Maduro wrote.
It was not immediately clear when the message was written. But social media users were quick to react to the post — with many questioning how it was even shared.
“So Maduro was able to post on social media while in U.S. custody? This is some weird s***,” one perplexed social media user wrote on X.
Another user questioned the legitimacy, writing, “How can a detained person in the US take a photo? Is this true?”
Other social media users remarked over the timing of the post, which came days after Trump announced an alleged oil deal his administration reached with Venezuela over the weekend. The deal would give the U.S. majority control of over 65 billion barrels of Venezuelan proven oil reserves.
“The first photo of Maduro emerges after his kidnapping, right just after the mega oil deal between the US and Venezuela, despite it being a photo from June 25. Coincidence or Causality?” one X user questioned.
Another seemed to agree, writing, “Exactly at the time the oil deal with Venezuela gets announced. Talk about a remarkably extraordinary coincidence.”
Maduro’s update comes two days after his successor, interim President Delcy Rodriguz, announced a “historic” oil agreement allowing the U.S. to operate in Venezuela’s oil fields.
“One of the things I am going to do with the Venezuelan Oil is fill up the Strategic National Reserves which, because of Sleepy Joe Biden, has been virtually emptied,” Trump wrote Sunday on his Truth Social account.
“The ‘topping out’ process will begin very shortly, and is a Gift from Venezuela to the People of the United States,” he said.
Federal prosecutors allege that Maduro led a conspiracy to ship drugs from Venezuela to the U.S. with fishing boats and container ships that were sent through the Caribbean and Central America.
Maduro is accused of utilizing narco-terrorist groups, including cartels and gangs like Tren de Aragua, which the Trump administration has targeted as part of the president’s anti-immigration agenda.
The ousted Venezuelan leader’s capture followed a months-long military campaign against his regime that included a series of deadly attacks on boats off Venezuela’s coast and a fleet of U.S. naval vessels and other military assets in the region.
Trump administration officials defended Maduro’s capture and the strikes on alleged drug boats by saying that the U.S. was formally engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels that Trump deemed “unlawful combatants.”
He and his wife were charged with conspiracy to commit narco-terrorism and import cocaine into the U.S.
Both have pleaded not guilty.
They face potential life sentences in prison if a jury agrees that they were part of a conspiracy to send cocaine into the U.S. Their trial is set to begin June 1, 2027.
“I am not guilty. I am a decent man, the constitutional president of my country,” Maduro said in Spanish during his arraignment in January.
Additional reporting by Alex Woodward
