The images, shared Sunday but timestamped June 25, were described as a “small gift of love and hope”. In another message, Maduro said “we stand firm” and expressed faith that Venezuela would eventually be reborn.

Former Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro on Sunday posted two photographs on his official social media accounts. In the pictures, he could be seen dressed in a grey sweatshirt and trousers with white shoes, smiling and making peace signs with both hands at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.

"A Small Gift of Love and Hope. I send these photos as a small gift to all my grandsons and granddaughters, to the boys and girls, and to all the noble people who love us," the caption of his post read.

The photos posted on Sunday had timestamps of June 25. In another post, he said that he wanted to convey that "we stand firm."

Notably, June 25 is just a day after two earthquakes measuring magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 struck Venezuela. The death toll from the quakes had risen to 6,509 by August 25.