'Have Fun in Jail'

"Nicolás Maduro wasn't due to arrive at his arraignment yesterday in downtown Manhattan until noon, but a large crowd had already formed outside the federal courthouse by 9 a.m. Actually, two crowds. One had come to tell Donald Trump to keep his hands off Venezuela. The other, which seemed largely Venezuelan, had come to celebrate. Maduro was, until Saturday, a widely hated ruler. His last election campaign consisted of threatening his people with a "bloodbath" if he lost."

"(Even so, he lost, but he claimed victory anyway.) The two crowds outside the courthouse mirrored the split reaction following Maduro's capture by the United States. For many international observers, his ouster was cause for alarm-a sign that a U.S. president can drop bombs abroad and kidnap a foreign leader without a declaration of war or congressional approval. But for so many Venezuelans, the sight of Maduro in shackles was about a tyrant facing justice."

"Before the hearing began, the hallway outside the courtroom was packed with people hoping to get a seat. Some were law students who had come because they sensed that a legal precedent was being set, though not necessarily a good one. The way Maduro was captured "puts the system of international law in danger," Leo Enderle, a German student at NYU, told me."

A Manhattan arraignment drew two distinct crowds: one urging Donald Trump to keep hands off Venezuela and another, largely Venezuelan, celebrating Maduro's presence in shackles. Maduro had been widely hated and threatened a "bloodbath" during his last election, which he lost but claimed to have won. The U.S. capture produced polarized responses: international observers raised alarms about precedent and the bypassing of war powers, while many Venezuelans saw justice served against a tyrant. The hallway filled with law students sensing a legal precedent, others attending for spectacle, and Venezuelans who viewed the moment as long-awaited vindication.

Read at The Atlantic