Nicolás Maduro once claimed he didn’t have any money, that he lived off his meager presidential salary, and that even then his wife spent most of it before it hit his bank account. He was wearing what some observers said was a luxury watch while he said it, but who are we to judge?
The reality is that while the people of Venezuela largely lived in poverty, while babies were malnourished, while schoolchildren sometimes stayed home because they had headaches from not eating, and while parents didn’t eat so their kids could have food, Maduro was living the sweet life of a man leading what critics describe as an organized‑crime apparatus pretending to be a country’s government.
He supposedly owned numerous luxury residences. He was linked to the Villa La Caracola, a sprawling 32,291 square foot mansion in the Dominican Republic worth $18 million. Well, he was — the U.S. seized it last year. That Rolex watch wasn't a rarity. Maduro had quite a collection of fancy timepieces and other accessories worth tens of thousands of dollars. He also had a thing for $1,000 shoes.
He got around in a Dassault Falcon 900EX private jet worth $13 million — the U.S. seized that too — and it was rumored that he had a fleet of luxury cars. Before he stopped leaving Venezuela, he had a passion for traveling around to meet his pals in countries like Cuba, China, and Turkey, and on one of his most notable trips, he stopped in Istanbul to enjoy a meal at Nusr-Et Steakhouse, where a main course can cost $250. To put that in perspective, I wrote a story a few months ago about a Venezuelan woman who earns $75 a month, spends every penny on food for her three teenagers, and even so, they can rarely afford meat and often go without eating.
Well, the tables are turning. Of course, we all know that Maduro was captured and arrested on January 3 before being flown to New York and locked up in the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn. Who can forget this "Happy New Year" perp walk?
Perp walked.pic.twitter.com/34iIsFUDdG
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) January 4, 2026
Maduro's current digs are a far cry from the Dominican vacation spot or even Miraflores Palace, the official presidential residence in Caracas.
According to the Spanish newspaper ABC, the man who held Venezuela hostage for years now spends his days in a small, isolated cell that is approximately three by two meters. There's a metal bed attached to the wall, along with a sink and toilet. There's a narrow window that allows natural light inside — which is more than the political prisoners in Venezuela got, as many reported being left in complete darkness for days on end — and while he is housed in a solitary confinement unit, he is allowed three hours outside the cell per week.
During those three hours, he's shackled and flanked by two guards. He can use the time to shower, go out to a small courtyard, access supervised email, or use the phone within a monthly limit. We know he's been staying in touch with his son and keeping up with what's going on in Venezuela, because when the Chavista National Assembly was debating the amnesty law recently, Maduro asked his boy to make sure they included him in it, as if he was ever going to make it back to Venezuela. I suppose that could happen if a Democrat wins in 2028, but I digress.
But the best part of ABC's story is that Maduro reportedly often cries out in the night, "I am the president of Venezuela! Tell my country that I have been kidnapped, that we are being mistreated here!" He bangs on the metal door and begs for someone to get a message to his family.
Of course, the MDC is not able to confirm that specific bit of information about Maduro's night terrors, but this media outlet is typically pretty trustworthy. It says its source is the attorney of one of the other prisoners held there. Plus, if you've ever paid any attention to Maduro, it sounds exactly like something he would do. Here's a flashback to him singing a different tune a few months ago:
🚨🇺🇸🇻🇪 Venezuela's Maduro begs Trump in English for the second time this week: “Peace forever, no crazy wars. Please, please, please.”
— Terror Alarm (@Terror_Alarm) October 24, 2025
Too Late Maduro. Caracas will be liberated soon! pic.twitter.com/fZWqNbBUzM
Prison consultant Sam Mangel calls the MDC "hell on earth." He says it's "in a state of total neglect, underfunded, and understaffed." The MDC is reportedly difficult to heat, and it suffers from rodent infestations and limited medical care.
As ABC says, the man who once crowned himself a head of state and lived a life of luxury now spends his days enduring prison head counts, lights that never fully go dark, doors that only open on a schedule, and inmates who suffer from psychiatric episodes.
I'm having a hard time feeling bad for him. It couldn't happen to a better guy.
As I wrote back in January, in Venezuela's notorious torture Chamber, El Helicoide:
The "prisoners" were crammed into small cells, often with no light, no fresh air, no toilet, or nothing to sleep on but a sheet on the floor. They used the bathroom in water bottles and plastic bags and would go weeks without any type of shower or hygiene. The rooms were hot and humid, and food and excrement were left inside to rot.
There was no legal process, no looming court dates. Guards were told to pressure the political prisoners into confessing to crimes they did not commit. They'd do this through physical and mental torture. Suffocation with plastic bags. Electrocuting a person on their most sensitive body parts. Tying up a person's hands and feet and connecting the rope to a pulley. People would eventually lie just to avoid the pain.
The Maduro regime is also a big fan of white torture, and it would allegedly lock individual prisoners in cells that were about six by seven feet, with only a cement bed and a toilet for water. Bright lights shine on them 24/7, and the cells are kept freezing cold. There is no sound, no communication with the outside world — just day after day of losing your sense of time and identity.
Related: The Futuristic Shopping Mall That Became a 'Torture Chamber'
And those people weren't murderers or rapists — they were members or supporters of the opposition who dared to protest or run for office or tell their neighbors to vote against Maduro.
If ABC's report is true, Maduro's current situation is a tropical vacation compared to that, which is far more than he deserves.
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