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On Saturday night, the White House posted to social media footage of Maduro’s perp walk in New York. In Donald Trump’s own account, the extraction of the Venezuelan leader had all the elements of a cinematic thriller. “I watched it, literally, like I was watching a television show,” he told Fox News. Afterward, Trump posted an image of Maduro blindfolded and handcuffed.
By Monday, Maduro and Flores were sitting in navy and orange prison garb in a courtroom, their legs shackled as they were flanked by their attorneys. If it seemed to Maduro like an occasion to publicly reflect on the remarkable circumstances of the occasion—to engage in the stakes at the same level of theater that Trump had—the 92-year-old judge in the case, Alvin Hellerstein, reminded him that the 30-minute hearing amounted to something more procedural. As Maduro stood and began to speak in Spanish about his capture, Hellerstein interrupted and said, “There will be time and place to get into all of this.” For now, he was asking for only the basic details: a confirmation of identity and an entry of a plea.
“I’m innocent. I’m not guilty,” Maduro said through an interpreter. “I am a decent man,” he added. “I am still president of my country.”
“Not guilty,” Flores said. “Completely innocent.”
Outside the courthouse, Shawn Michael, a content creator among the throng of Venezuelan protesters cheering Maduro’s arrest, stood in Tom Ford aviators, a denim jacket from a collaboration between Supreme and Louis Vuitton, and a baseball hat reading “We the People” on the front and “The Constitution” on the back. Michael was livestreaming in between chants and gleefully sparred with a passerby who objected to his support for Trump.
“I think it’s sad,” Michael said, unable to contain a grin. “Even though I’m combative against the people across the way, my heart really is open for them because they really are lost. They have so much hatred for the president of the United States of America that they put that as a precedent over the safety and security of their own families.”
In his view, the celebrations surrounding him were proof of Trump’s greatness. He had his objections to the president—“Sometimes I shut my ears too—Oh my God, Donald, stop”—but as he surveyed the spectacle, a new round of chants broke out. He thought the compromise was worth it.
“Look what this man has done,” Michael said.
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Dan Adler
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