A Venezuelan woman who was left disfigured when Venezuelan military forces threw boiling water on her at an anti-government protest in Caracas in 2021 has urged a Manhattan federal judge to lock up President Nicolás Maduro for as long as possible. The woman identified only as Carmen, saying she still has family in Venezuela and fears for their safety.
Carmen was among several other protesters who gathered outside court as Maduro pleaded not guilty to narco-terrorism charges. Maduro is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn, which housed infamous inmates like music stars R. Kelly and Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs.
‘I’m here today asking for his sentence to be as long as possible’
Carmen said she immigrated to the United States from Caracas shortly after she was injured during the protest. She now works at a community center in New Rochelle.
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“I’m here today asking for his sentence to be as long as possible — the maximum,” Carmen told the New York Post.
{{/usCountry}}“I’m here today asking for his sentence to be as long as possible — the maximum,” Carmen told the New York Post.
{{/usCountry}}Carmen alleged that she was “tortured” by Maduro’s regime simply because she exercised free speech. “I was tortured for expressing myself and having my opinion,” she said. “They threw boiling water on me.”
“It’s because of protests. I was not allowed freedom of speech,” she added.
Outside the court where Maduro pleaded not guilty, Carmen stood in opposition to a few lefty counter-demonstrators who rallied to denounce the Venezuelan leader’s arrest.
“Whatever they think is completely opposite of what Maduro is,” she said. “He’s a murderer, a criminal. They wouldn’t understand. They’ll never understand what it’s like to be hungry or go to a hospital and not receive help.”
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“They can be protesting here and nothing will happen to them. In Venezuela they would be oppressed, shot at,” she added.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has announced that the US is "going to run the country" until there is a "safe, proper and judicious transition" of power in Venezuela.