Maduro’s son says his father shares cell with 18 people in US jail

BERLIN, May 14. /TASS/. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, jailed in the United States, is being held in an overcrowded cell alongside 18 other prisoners, his son and a member of the National Assembly (parliament), Nicolas Maduro Guerra, told Der Spiegel in an interview. "At the very beginning, when he was in a separate cell, he did an hour of sports every morning after which he wrote a diary, putting in it everything that came to his head," Maduro Guerra said. "Since the Easter week (Catholic Easter fell on April 5, 2026 - TASS), he has been in a common cell with 18 other prisoners. Half of them, he says, speak Spanish. He communicates with them, watches TV, and learns a little English," he shared. The US operation against Venezuela came as a surprise to the Maduro family. "They used technology that we here have never seen before. I, Nicolas Ernesto, underestimated them. At the same time, I overestimated what we ourselves are capable of. <…> We must have done more to protect my father. We failed in that," he concluded. On January 3, the United States attacked civilian and military facilities in Venezuela and captured Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores. On January 5, the couple appeared before the US Federal Court for the Southern District of New York, where they face charges of alleged involvement in drug trafficking. Both have pleaded not guilty. Vice President Delcy Rodriguez was sworn in as Venezuela’s interim president on January 6.