Inside "Hell On Earth", Where Nicolas Maduro Has Been Living For 80 Days

It's been over 80 days since Nicolas Maduro, the former Venezuelan President, and his wife were picked up from their Caracas home and brought to America.

The Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn, where they are being held while awaiting trial on multiple charges, has a long history of complaints about its poor conditions. Lawyers, judges and former detainees have described it as "hell on earth."

In the past, inmates have reported dirty and unsanitary cells, limited access to sunlight and fresh air, and long hours locked alone in small rooms, according to CNN.

Lawyers have said that the jail serves very poor-quality food to inmates. Sometimes the food is expired, undercooked, or even contaminated, including spoiled meat and hazardous dairy products.

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In 2024, a prisoner filed a complaint saying that some of the beans he received were infested with worms. In another case last year, the lawyer for music producer Sean "Diddy" Combs, who was also held there, said that the jail routinely served expired or worm-infested food.

Cameron Lindsay, former director of the facility, said inmates like Maduro likely spent about 23 hours a day in solitary confinement. Meals are delivered through a small slot in the door, there is very little contact with other inmates or visitors and limited recreation.

Daniel McGuinness, criminal and civil rights attorney, said, "It's the most restrictive level within the facility. There, detainees spend almost the entire day alone in their cells and, when they leave, they do so under strict supervision and with limited communication."

Even if Maduro wasn't kept alone in solitary confinement, he still couldn't see his wife in jail, said the US Department of Justice. At the MDC, men and women are kept in separate housing units.

Those in federal criminal cases like his, people who are charged together, called co‑defendants, are usually not allowed to talk or interact directly with each other while in detention.

Under the federal justice system, judges can issue "no contact" orders to make sure people charged in the same case don't secretly work together, influence witnesses or interfere with the legal process.

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Communication with the outside world is allowed in limited ways such as visits must be approved in advance, calls are monitored and internet access is not available.

"The quality of medical and mental health services remains profoundly poor," said civil rights attorney Katie Rose.