Venezuelans are closely watching developments in New Yorkpublished at 14:26 GMT
14:26 GMT
Norberto Paredes
BBC Mundo correspondent
Residents of Caracas, Venezuela’s capital, are today watching closely the developments in a New York court, where Maduro is expected to appear.
Opponents of his government say they hope he “never returns” to Venezuela and that he pays “for all his crimes,” while supporters of Chavismo – the ideology of Hugo Chavez, Maduro’s predecessor – hope he will be released.
Ana Patricia, a 72-year-old retired lawyer, told the BBC that despite government censorship, everyone is trying to follow the process.
“They can control what Venezuelan media publish, but not what is published in the international press.”
Regarding Maduro’s fate, she said she felt a degree of sympathy: “He is a man who had everything but lost it through greed and an inflated ego. I feel sorry for him, because in the end he is a human being, but I hope he receives a life sentence. He has to pay for his crimes.”
Adriana, a 35-year-old nurse from La Guaira, just north of Caracas, also said she believes he should face life in prison — “or at the very least, 30 years.”
“I hope he is held accountable for the damage he has done to Venezuela, and not just him. I hope the other politicians who stood alongside him, and who are also accused of drug trafficking, are jailed as well”, she adds.
In western Caracas, Agustina Parra, a 67-year-old retired nurse, told the BBC that she has faith that “my president Maduro will be released.”
“Despite his flaws, he has not been a bad president. He knows he is innocent and he will prove it.”
Parra claims that the US government “doesn’t even know what to accuse him of”: “They accuse him of drug trafficking, of weapons possession… And I cannot accept the actions of President Trump in Venezuela, in which so many people died.”