Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro pleaded not guilty to all US charges during his first court appearance in New York on Monday (Jan. 6, local time).
On the morning of January 3, Maduro was forcibly taken control of and removed by US military forces. Several photos released to date show that after being captured, he changed into at least three different outfits, including a gray Nike tracksuit, a black jacket with gray-black pants, and a blue hooded sweatshirt.
Trump posted a photo on his social media platform Truth Social on Jan. 3, showing Maduro aboard the USS Iwo Jima. In the photo, Maduro is wearing gray athletic clothing, with handcuffs on his wrists, his eyes covered with a black cloth, and holding a bottle of water.
Subsequently, the open-source intelligence verification group "OSINTdefender" shared a photo of Maduro arriving at the US military base on social media. In the image, he is sitting in the center, surrounded by agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and he is giving a thumbs-up with his handcuffed hands. The hooded sweatshirt he wore led Origin, the manufacturer, to respond. Pete Roberts, the founder and CEO of Origin, stated that ever since the photo surfaced, his phone has been buzzing non-stop with notifications. He believes the hoodie was handed to Maduro by DEA agents.
The White House's official X platform account "Rapid Response 47" also shared a video of Maduro, deriding it as a "perp walk." In the video, Maduro appears calm, dressed in a black hooded sweatshirt, with his hands cuffed behind him, as he walks through a hallway carpeted in blue marked with "DEA NYD," escorted by DEA agents. He casually says to onlookers, "Good evening, Happy New Year."
Reports suggest that Maduro changed his outfit three times due to the significant climate differences he encountered during transit, with temperature variations reaching 32 degrees Celsius. When he was captured in Caracas, the local temperature was about 26 degrees Celsius, and he was wearing light gray sweatpants and a white T-shirt. Upon arriving in New York, the temperature was around -6 degrees Celsius.
Upon arriving at the DEA headquarters in the US, Maduro, who had been under medical supervision, even displayed symptoms of hypothermia. Sudden exposure to the cold and damp air of a New York winter can lead to severe respiratory issues, coughing, and fatigue. To mitigate these risks, especially considering that the 63-year-old may have underlying health issues such as heart disease or asthma, the DEA provided him with a zippered black jacket, a sweater, and a thick hat.
While Maduro changed outfits several times, two items remained constant: "thick white socks and flip-flops." Reports noted that these are standard attire in US federal prisons, as flip-flops prevent inmates from using shoes as weapons or self-harm tools, while also limiting their ability to run or move quickly.
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