Photo courtesy of Jorge Torrealba.
“I never imagined I would be sketching a court hearing involving Nicolás Maduro,” said Jorge Torrealba, an Emmy Award–winning Venezuelan artist. Torrealba, who was at the Manhattan federal courthouse on January 5, recalled hearing the sounds of dragging chains echo through the hallway— where the 12-year-ousted dictator, along with his wife Cilia Flores, were arraigned on their charges.
“It is something I will never forget in my life. It marked me,” he told Slice of Culture in an interview.
Torrealba moved to the U.S. a decade ago, due to the oppressive nature of the Maduro regime.
In the court hearing he described a tense environment, “I was just overwhelmed, I could not believe I was in the room with the man who was the reason I left the country in the first place.”
Torrealba added that he felt he was representing his whole country hoping for a transition to cross over to democratic governance: “It felt that you were the nation of Venezuela watching the executioner right in front of us.”
The Moment He Saw Nicolás Maduro + What The Case Meant to Venezuelans
Days before Maduro was seized by U.S. military forces, he went on a live video on social media speaking to reporter, Ignaco Ramonent, prior to the waning hours of his military extradition from the country.
On Jan. 3, a special U.S. military operation took place under the directive of the Trump administration, leading to the strike and takedown of the dictator linked to drug trafficking syndicate groups known as Cartel de los Soles or Tren de Aragua.
How he got there, he says, is a total odyssey;he found himself sitting just a few feet away from the dictator.
“There is a reason I was there, now I have to share the message,” he added. “Time went by so quickly, it was shocking everything that was happening.”
At 7 a.m., Torrealba woke up to social media feeds showing Nicolás Maduro being escorted to the courthouse. Compelled by disbelief, Torrealba made his way to the courtroom, where the guard stepped aside to let him in. Inside, he took a seat among roughly 100 spectators, witnessing a moment few could have imagined.
U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein, 92, is overseeing the case against Maduro, the former Venezuelan president, due to his long-standing involvement with related indictments dating back nearly 15 years.
Judge Hellerstein was initially assigned to a 2011 indictment, of one of Maduro’s alleged co-conspirators, which has since expanded to include Maduro and others, according to reporting by POLITICO.
According to reports, the charges against Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, are serious and wide-ranging.
They include conspiracy to commit narco-terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States, possession of machine guns and destructive devices and conspiracy to possess such weapons, according to the indictment.
“There are so many years of suffering Venezuelans have experienced that we all just know at this point, we see it in the news,” Torrealba told Slice of Culture.
“We know the lies this government has told to the public, the hate and still we know that the political prisoners are still captured and don’t have human rights.”
An attorney for Flores, informed a federal court recently that Flores sustained injuries during the U.S. operation that led to their capture over the weekend.
Maduro and Flores are currently detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn following their arrest by U.S. forces in what President Trump described as “a large-scale strike against Venezuela and its leader,” after months of military preparation.
Flores’ defense team requested the court authorize a full X-ray, citing reports from CBS News that raised concerns she may have suffered fractured ribs or severe bruising. In response, U.S. District Judge Hellerstein instructed prosecutors and defense attorneys to ensure Flores receives appropriate medical care.
During the hearing, Judge Hellerstein informed Maduro of his legal rights, including the right to counsel and to remain silent.
Maduro responded, “I did not know of these rights. Your honor is informing me of them now,” before entering his plea.
Torrealba’s Bond
In the last decade, Venezuela has seen a staggering exodus of more than eight million citizens according to figures cited by the United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), fleeing an authoritarian regime that has plunged the once oil-rich nation into economic and social turmoil.
Once a global energy powerhouse, the country’s resources have dwindled as Maduro’s grip on power tightened.
“Things over there are still rough, people are out in the streets with fear of what is going to happen next,” he said, adding that “Venezuelans can’t even celebrate the fact that it happened.”
Torrealba emerged from the courthouse shocked by this encounter of seeing play out in court, the former president of Venezuela–a country he has not been back to in a decade due to political unrest.
The Venezuelan artist, who currently resides in West New York, had captured a sketch of Nicolás Maduro’s reactions as the former Venezuelan leader faced his arraignment in federal court.
“There are many court drawers in the courtroom, but none will share the strong bond I have with Venezuela.”
– Torrealba said, reflecting on his deep connection to his homeland amid the historic proceedings.
