Venezuela dictator Nicolas Maduro is a lucky man.

He is still alive.

He could have had his head blown off, along with the head of his lovely wife Cilia Flores.

Instead, he and she will get a fair trial in an open court, something of which Maduro routinely denied the Venezuelan people he ruled over.

Currently both are being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn awaiting trial.

Both pled not guilty to a variety of federal charges after being whisked out of Caracas by U.S. forces in an extraordinary mission and brought to New York.

While it is not exactly Motel 6, the detention center is a far cry from the gulags Maduro sent thousands of his political opponents where they were tortured, murdered or simply disappeared.

At least at the MDC he will get three hots and a cot and—who knows—may even get the opportunity to dine with his lovely wife who could be occupying an adjoining cell.

Since Maduro’s next court appearance is months away, sympathetic Democrats will have plenty of time to launch a GoFundMe page for the Maduros.

The funds could come in handy pending Maduro’s access to the millions in drug money he has stashed away in Switzerland and elsewhere.

The fund could be headed by New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a fellow socialist.

Mamdani was critical of President Donald Trump’s decision to take Maduro into custody, even though Maduro was an indicted and wanted criminal who poured tons of drugs into the U.S. and housed Hezbollah terrorists as well as bad actors from Iran, China and Russia.

Other than that Maduro was a good guy, as he told the court upon his arraignment. “I am a decent man,” he said.

Maduro’s key mistake was that he underestimated Trump. Also, Maduro courted doom when he turned down an offer to flee to Russia with his ill-gotten gains.

There he could have joined former Syrian dictator Bashar al Assad who was also given sanctuary by the Russians after he was forced to flee Syria.

What is interesting in all of this is the reaction of the Democrats who are attacking Trump for his “illegal” action in capturing Maduro.

These are the same Democrats who applauded former President Barack Obama when he ordered the U.S. military in 2011 to take out al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, the brains behind the 911 (2001) attack on the Twin Towers in New York that took 3,000 lives.

In contrast, hundreds of thousand U.S. lives have been taken by drugs smuggled into the U.S. thanks to Maduro.

Back then was when Special Team Six flew undetected into Pakistan on two Blackhawk helicopters to confront bin Laden, who was hiding out in a compound in Abbottabad with his family and supporters.

The daring mission succeeded. Only instead of capturing an unarmed Osama and bringing him to trial, he was shot dead, which may have been the plan in the first place. No Osama bin Laden, no trial.

Democrats did not object or accuse Obama of acting illegally. Instead, they rejoiced. Then Attorney General Eric Holder said Osama deserved what he got.

President Obama even gave a speech from the White House bragging about the deadly accomplishment. Nobody brought up that the right thing might have been to capture Osama and bring him to justice.

Compare that to what U.S. military special forces and law enforcement officials did when they went into Caracas to take out Maduro.

They easily could have earlier killed Maduro with a drone attack.

Or they could have killed Maduro and his wife when they stormed his hideout in Caracas, the way they did when they attacked Osama and killed him, his son and a woman.  Instead of blowing Maduro’s head off they read him his Miranda rights.

Trump, unlike Obama, wanted Maduro alive and put on trial.

Not Obama. The Obama administration did not want to capture Osama. They wanted him dead, not alive and to be put on trial. A trial would have turned him into an Islamist terrorist martyr.  So, they killed him and buried him buried hm at sea.. No Osama, no trial. And Democrats cheered.

Veteran political reporter Peter Lucas can be reached at: peter.lucas@bostonherald.com. 

President Donald Trump speaks with reporters during a meeting with oil executives in the East Room of the White House, on Friday in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Osama bin Laden (AP Photo/File)