Venezuela’s deposed dictator Nicolás Maduro is spending his days in prison studying religious texts and meeting with diverse clergymen, including a rabbi, according to a report published by the left-wing New York Times on Sunday.
The 63-year-old former dictator of Venezuela remains imprisoned at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn alongside his wife, “First Combatant” Cilia Flores, since U.S. forces detained the pair during a law enforcement operation in Caracas on January 3. Maduro, Flores, and several other co-conspirators stand accused of multiple drug trafficking charges. Additionally, torture charges have been brought up against Maduro and Flores.
The case is now being overseen by U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres following the passing of Judge Alvin Hellerstein in late October. The trial against Maduro reportedly remains on track to begin in June 2027.
Unnamed individuals familiar with Maduro’s circumstances and experiences spoke with the New York Times, which once published Maduro as a guest columnist, on condition of anonymity and affirmed that the deposed dictator has been “devoting his ample spare time” in prison to “studying religious and philosophical texts.” Per the report, Maduro has also met with prison chaplains, including a priest and a rabbi.
“It is unclear if Mr. Maduro’s interest in Judaism is driven primarily by spiritual or intellectual interests,” the Times wrote.
As the Times pointed out, Maduro has publicly claimed that he has Jewish heritage — an assertion he repeated throughout the nearly 13 years that he remained in power. People close to Maduro, however, reportedly affirmed that he had not expressed any interest in Judaism “until his capture.”
According to Maduro, and longtime officials of the Venezuelan socialist regime, the deposed dictator’s ancestors were individuals of Sephardic Jewish origin that immigrated to Venezuela through the Dutch Antilles around the mid-19th century. Maduro also used his alleged Jewish heritage to condemn Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by espousing the claim that he is a “real Jew,” unlike Netanyahu.
“I am a Christian, but Jewish blood runs through my veins, Sephardic blood, from the authentic Jews of the twelve tribes, those of Moses. Those Jews of the twelve tribes, who are not the ones in charge today in the State of Israel, those who govern today under Netanyahu, are not authentic Jews. He is a hodgepodge who comes from Poland,” Maduro said in June 2025.
Maduro’s alleged religious beliefs have long been a subject of debate during the years that he ruled as the dictator of Venezuela — particularly within the context of the regime’s decades-long animosity towards the nation’s Catholic Church and the ruling socialists’ proclivity to co-opt and twist Christianity to further their authoritarian agenda. The deposed dictator has publicly stated that he was raised Catholic during his youth years in Caracas. However, Maduro, Flores, and even current “acting President” Delcy Rodríguez have been widely described as followers of late Indian guru Sathya Sai Baba, as pointed out by the Times on Sunday.
In the years before his capture, Maduro extensively courted self-declared Venezuelan Evangelical Christians groups, declaring the Evangelical Church as the “true church of God” during a 2023 broadcast. Maduro provided the pro-regime religious groups with incentives and monetary stipends. He had also appointed his son, current lawmaker Nicolás Maduro Guerra, as a liaison between himself and pro-regime religious organizations.
A year later, during the 2024 sham presidential “election” campaign, pro-socialist Evangelical groups proclaimed Maduro as the “protector of the family, according to the original design of the Bible.” The same groups praised Maduro for his alleged commitment to Christian values and praised the dictator for his purported “support of the Venezuelan family.” Some of the pro-regime Evangelical groups, such as the ORA party, pledged their support to Maduro during the 2018 and 2024 sham presidential elections.
On Sunday, the same day as the Times published its report, Maduro’s official social media accounts published a five-page statement titled, “The Supremacy of Love to Abolish Hate. The Prayer Method to Unite Us in Life and Freedom.” Maduro opened his statement by referring to a March 2024 regime event alongside several pro-regime Evangelical pastors during which the dictator placed his political future “in the hands of God.”
In the five pages, Maduro referred to what he described as the “ORA Method: prayer, reflection, and action,” through which, the dictator claimed, “we managed to bring together, in an ecumenical and interfaith spirit, leaders and communities from the diverse religious traditions that thrive in Venezuela.” The deposed dictator also called upon the power of “love” as the “expression of the supreme good that transforms.”
“God is with us today, tomorrow, and always. Hugs and blessings to everyone,” Maduro wrote in a follow-up post.
At press time, it remains unclear how Maduro managed to post the statement and all prior social media posts since his arrest on January 3.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
