Madura’s life takes place in a three by two meter cell. He screams at night

In a cell with a small, narrow window that lets in little light, Maduro has a metal bunk attached to the wall, a toilet and a sink. He is only allowed to leave it three times a week to a small fenced yard. At the same time, his hands and feet are shackled and he is accompanied by two guards.

According to the Spanish newspaper ABC, the guards thought that he was having nightmares and was screaming in his sleep. But they figured out that he was trying to draw attention to himself. The most frequent voice from his cell is: “I’m the president! I’m the president of Venezuela! I’ve been kidnapped! Free me!”

There is no official record of his nocturnal screams. But their description is circulating among guards at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn (MDC), the federal prison where Maduro has been held since January 3.

“It’s hell on earth,” says Sam Mangel, a prison consultant who has worked with inmates in federal facilities for years. He knows MDC from client testimonials and from his own experience. “The MDC is horribly neglected and understaffed. It’s a place you wouldn’t want to spend a minute,” he adds, adding that the prison is also infested with rodents and lacks medical care. He does not even want to guess how many years Maduro faces.

According to ABC, Maduro was placed in solitary confinement. It officially serves several purposes: disciplinary isolation, suicide prevention and protection of high-ranking or endangered prisoners.

The former Venezuelan dictator faces charges of narco-terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States and use and possession of an automatic rifle and destructive devices. The defense is working to question Maduro’s capture, which it characterizes as a “military kidnapping”.

Well-known names have passed through MDC cells: rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs, Ghislaine Maxwellová, partner of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández and international drug dealer Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada.

Many of them were also in isolation here. As part of measures for suicide prevention, it was up to 72 hours a week. In the case of Maduro, the need for isolation is discussed in connection with security concerns. He is probably the most important prisoner in the center’s history.