Nicolás Maduro’s Nike Tech Fleece Goes Viral

On January 3, Nicolás Maduro was captured by U.S. forces during the military operation Operation Absolute Resolve. A photo taken aboard the USS Iwo Jima, in which he appears wearing a grey Nike Tech Fleece tracksuit, quickly circulated online. Within hours, the image moved beyond the strictly political sphere, settling into an unexpected space at the intersection of news, visual culture, and consumption.

Within a few hours, the “Dark Grey Heather/Black” Tech Fleece had almost entirely disappeared from Nike’s U.S. website. Most tall and plus sizes became unavailable, while only a few smaller sizes remained accessible. According to data from the platform Polymarket, the product may have reached a near sell-out earlier in the day, suggesting a discreet restock to meet the surge in demand.

Following the raid carried out in Caracas, Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were transferred to New York to face federal charges of “narco-terrorism” and cocaine trafficking. U.S. authorities allege that Maduro and several senior officials from his regime collaborated with Colombian armed groups to organize the shipment of narcotics into the United States.