Nicolás Maduro | |
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![]() | |
President of Venezuela | |
Assumed office 19 April 2013 Interim: 5 March 2013 – 19 April 2013 | |
Vice President | Jorge Arreaza (2013–2016) Aristóbulo Istúriz (2016–2017) Tareck El Aissami (since 2017) |
Preceded by | Hugo Chávez |
Secretary General of the Non-Aligned Movement | |
Assumed office 17 September 2016 | |
Preceded by | Hassan Rouhani |
President pro tempore of the Union of South American Nations | |
In office 23 April 2016 – 21 April 2017 | |
Preceded by | Tabaré Vázquez |
Succeeded by | Mauricio Macri |
Vice President of Venezuela | |
In office 13 October 2012 – 5 March 2013 | |
President | Hugo Chávez |
Preceded by | Elías Jaua |
Succeeded by | Jorge Arreaza |
Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
In office 9 August 2006 – 15 January 2013 | |
President | Hugo Chávez |
Preceded by | Alí Rodríguez Araque |
Succeeded by | Elías Jaua |
President of the National Assembly of Venezuela | |
In office 5 January 2005 – 7 August 2006 | |
Preceded by | Francisco Ameliach |
Succeeded by | Cilia Flores |
Personal details | |
Born | Nicolás Maduro Moros 23 November 1962 Caracas, Venezuela |
Political party | United Socialist Party (2007–present) Fifth Republic Movement (before 2007) |
Spouse | Cilia Flores |
Children | Nicolás Maduro Guerra[1] |
Residence | Miraflores Palace |
Signature | ![]() |
Website | Official website |
Nicolás Maduro Moros (Spanish: [nikoˈlas maˈðuɾo ˈmoɾos]; born 23 November 1962) is a Venezuelan politician who has been the President of Venezuela since assuming office in 2013 and previously served under President Hugo Chávez as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2006 to 2013 and as Vice President of Venezuela from 2012 to 2013.
Starting off as a bus driver, Maduro rose to become a trade union leader before being elected to the National Assembly in 2000. He was appointed to a number of positions within the Venezuelan Government under Chávez, ultimately being made Foreign Minister in 2006. He was described during this time as the "most capable administrator and politician of Chávez's inner circle".[2] After Chávez's death was announced on 5 March 2013, Maduro assumed the powers and responsibilities of the President. A special election was held on 14 April 2013 to elect a new President and Maduro won with 50.62% of the votes as the candidate of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela. He was formally inaugurated on 19 April.[3]
Maduro has ruled Venezuela by decree since 19 November 2013.[4][5][6][7] As a result of Chávez's policies and Maduro's continuation of them, Venezuela's socioeconomic status declined, with crime, inflation, poverty and hunger increasing.[8][9][10][11] Shortages in Venezuela and decreased living standards resulted in protests beginning in 2014 that escalated into daily riots nationwide, with Maduro's popularity suffering.[12][13] The loss of popularity saw the election of an opposition-led National Assembly in 2015 and a movement toward recalling Maduro in 2016, though Maduro still maintains power through loyal political bodies, such as the Supreme Court and electoral authority as well as the military.[12][13][14]
Like Chávez, Maduro has been accused of authoritarian leadership,[15] with conventional media describing him as a dictator, especially following the suspension of the recall movement that was directed towards him.[16][17][18][19] Following the 2017 Venezuelan Constitutional Assembly election, the United States sanctioned Maduro, freezing his U.S. assets and prohibited him from entering the country, stating that he was a "dictator".[20]
Biography
Family background
Nicolás Maduro Moros was born on 23 November 1962 in Caracas, Venezuela into a working-class family.[21][22][23]
His father, Nicolás Maduro Garcia, who was a prominent trade union leader,[24] died in a motor vehicle accident on 22 April 1989. His mother, Teresa de Jesús Moros, was born in Cúcuta, a Colombian border town at the boundary with Venezuela on "the 1st of June of 1929, as it appears in the National Registry of Colombia".[25]
Nicolás Maduro was raised as a Roman Catholic, although in 2012 it was reported that he was a follower of Indian guru Sathya Sai Baba and previously visited the guru in India in 2005.[26]
Racially, Maduro has indicated that he identifies as mestizo ("mixed [race]"), stating that he includes as a part of his mestizaje ("racial mixture") admixture from the Indigenous peoples of the Americas and Africans.[27] He stated in a 2013 interview that “my grandparents were Jewish, from a Sephardic Moorish background, and converted to Catholicism in Venezuela".[28]
Officially, Maduro was born into a leftist family, with his father being a union leader[21][29] and "militant dreamer of the Movimiento Electoral del Pueblo (MEP)".[30] Maduro was raised in Calle 14, a street in Los Jardines, El Valle, a working-class neighborhood on the western outskirts of Caracas.[25] The only male of four siblings, he had "three sisters, María Teresa, Josefina, and Anita".[30]
Marriages and family
Maduro has been married twice. His first marriage was to Adriana Guerra Angulo, with whom he had his only son, Nicolás Maduro Guerra.[31] Maduro Guerra, also known as "Nicolasito", was appointed to several senior government posts: Chief of the Presidency's Special Inspectors Body, head of the National Film School, and a seat in the National Assembly.[32]
He later married Cilia Flores, a lawyer and politician who replaced Maduro as President of the National Assembly in August 2006, when he resigned to become Minister of Foreign Affairs, becoming the first woman to serve as President of the National Assembly.[33] The two had been in a romantic relationship since the 1990s when Flores was Hugo Chávez's lawyer following the 1992 Venezuelan coup d'état attempts[34] and were married in July 2013 months after Maduro became president.[35] While they have no children together, Maduro has three step-children from his wife's first marriage to Walter Ramón Gavidia; Walter Jacob, Yoswel, and Yosser.[36]
Early political career
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/be/Pedro_Miret_joven.jpg/140px-Pedro_Miret_joven.jpg)
Education and union work
He attended a public high school, the Liceo José Ávalos, in El Valle.[22][37] His introduction to politics was when he became a member of his high school's student union.[21] According to school records, Maduro never graduated from high school.[29]
In 1979, Maduro was recognized as a person of interest by Venezuelan authorities in the kidnapping of William Niehous,[38] an American employee of Owens-Illinois who was held hostage by leftist militants who would later become close to Hugo Chávez.[39]
Maduro found employment as a bus driver for many years for the Caracas Metro company. He began his political career in the 1980s, by becoming an unofficial trade unionist representing the bus drivers of the Caracas Metro system. He was also employed as a bodyguard for José Vicente Rangel during Rangel's unsuccessful 1983 presidential campaign.[29][40]
At 24 years of age, Maduro was walking through the streets of Havana with other militants of leftist organizations in South America who moved to Cuba in 1986 to attend a one-year course at the Escuela Nacional de Cuadros Julio Antonio Mella, a centre of political education directed by the Union of Young Communists.[25] During his time in Cuba, Maduro received vigorous training under Pedro Miret Prieto (es), a senior member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of Cuba who was close to Fidel Castro.[41]
MBR-200
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0e/MBR-200_meeting.png/220px-MBR-200_meeting.png)
Maduro was allegedly tasked by the Castro government to serve as a "mole" working for the Cuba's Dirección de Inteligencia to approach Hugo Chávez, who was experiencing a burgeoning military career.[42]
In the early 1990s, he joined MBR-200 and campaigned for the release of Chávez when he was jailed for his role in the 1992 Venezuelan coup d'état attempts.[29] In the late 1990s, Maduro was instrumental in founding the Movement of the Fifth Republic, which supported Chávez in his run for president in 1998.[37]
National Assembly
Maduro was elected on the MVR ticket to the Venezuelan Chamber of Deputies in 1998, to the National Constituent Assembly in 1999, and finally to the National Assembly in 2000, at all times representing the Capital District. The Assembly elected him as Speaker, a role he held from 2005 until 2006.
Foreign Minister
On 9 August 2006, Maduro was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs. According to Rory Carroll, Maduro did not know how to speak any foreign languages while serving as the Minister of Foreign Affairs.[43] During his time as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Venezuela's foreign policy stances included support for Libya under Muammar Gaddafi, and a turnaround in relations with Colombia.[44] Maduro served as the Venezuelan Minister of Foreign Affairs until January 2013.
Vice President of Venezuela
Prior to his appointment to the vice presidency, Maduro had already been chosen by Chávez in 2011 to succeed him in the presidency if he were to die from cancer. This choice was made due to Maduro's loyalty to Chávez and because of his good relations with other chavista hard-liners such as Elías Jaua, former minister Jesse Chacón and Jorge Rodríguez. Bolivarian officials predicted that following Chávez's death, Maduro would have more difficulties politically and that instability in the country would arise.[45]
Chávez appointed Maduro Vice President of Venezuela on 13 October 2012, shortly after his victory in that month's presidential election. Two months later, on 8 December 2012, Chávez announced that his recurring cancer had returned and that he would be returning to Cuba for emergency surgery and further medical treatment. Chávez said that should his condition worsen and a new presidential election be called to replace him, Venezuelans should vote for Maduro to succeed him. This was the first time that Chávez named a potential successor to his movement, as well as the first time he publicly acknowledged the possibility of his demise.[46][47]
Chávez's endorsement of Maduro sidelined Diosdado Cabello, a former Vice President and powerful Socialist Party official with ties to the armed forces, who had been widely considered a top candidate to be Chávez's successor. After Maduro was endorsed by Chávez, Cabello "immediately pledged loyalty" to both men.[48]
Interim president
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/eb/Nicolas_Maduro_in_Brasilia.jpg/150px-Nicolas_Maduro_in_Brasilia.jpg)
My firm opinion, as clear as the full moon – irrevocable, absolute, total – is...that you elect Nicolas Maduro as President. I ask this of you from my heart. He is one of the young leaders with the greatest ability to continue, if I cannot.
—Hugo Chávez (December 2012)[44]
Upon the death of Hugo Chávez on 5 March 2013, Maduro assumed the powers and responsibilities of the president. He appointed Jorge Arreaza to take his place as vice president. Since Chávez died within the first four years of his term, the Constitution of Venezuela states that a presidential election had to be held within 30 days of his death.[49][50][51] Maduro was unanimously adopted as the Socialist Party's candidate in that election.[52] At the time of his assumption of temporary power, opposition leaders argued that Maduro violated articles 229, 231, and 233 of the Venezuelan Constitution, by assuming power over the President of the National Assembly.[53][54]
In his speech during the short ceremony in which he formally took over the powers of the president, Maduro said: "Compatriots, I am not here out of personal ambition, out of vanity, or because my surname Maduro is a part of the rancid oligarchy of this country. I am not here because I represent financial groups, neither of the oligarchy nor of American imperialism... I am not here to protect mafias nor groups nor factions."[55][56]
President of Venezuela
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/08/Nicol%C3%A1s_Maduro_assuming_office.jpg/150px-Nicol%C3%A1s_Maduro_assuming_office.jpg)
The succession to the presidency of Maduro, according to Corales and Penfold, was due to multiple mechanisms that were established by Maduro's predecessor, Hugo Chávez. Initially, oil prices were high enough for Maduro to maintain necessary spending for support, specifically with the military. Foreign ties that were established by Chávez were also utilised by Maduro as he applied skills that he had learned while serving as a foreign minister for his advantage. Finally, the PSUV and government institutions aligned behind Maduro, and "the regime used the institutions of repression and autocracy, also created under Chávez, to become more repressive vis-à-vis the opposition".[57]
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d2/Nicolas_Maduro_February_2017.png/220px-Nicolas_Maduro_February_2017.png)
On 14 April 2013, Maduro was elected President of Venezuela, narrowly defeating opposition candidate Henrique Capriles with just 1.5% of the vote separating the two candidates. Capriles immediately demanded a recount, refusing to recognize the outcome as valid.[58] Maduro was later formally inaugurated as President on 19 April, after the election commission had promised a full audit of the election results.[3][59] On 24 October 2013, he announced the creation of a new agency, the Vice Ministry of Supreme Happiness, to coordinate all the social programmes.[60]
On 2 May 2016, opposition leaders in Venezuela handed in a petition to the National Electoral Council (CNE) calling for a recall referendum, with the populace to vote on whether to remove Maduro from office.[61] On 5 July 2016, the Venezuelan intelligence service detained five opposition activists involved with the recall referendum, with two other activists of the same party, Popular Will, also arrested.[62] After delays in verification of the signatures, protestors alleged the government was intentionally delaying the process. The government, in response, argued the protestors were part of a plot to topple Maduro.[63] On 1 August 2016, CNE announced that enough signatures had been validated for the recall process to continue. While opposition leaders pushed for the recall to be held before the end of 2016, allowing a new presidential election to take place, the government vowed a recall would not occur until 2017, ensuring the current vice president would potentially come to power.[64]
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0c/Venezuelan_Constituent_Assembly_-_Maduro.jpg/220px-Venezuelan_Constituent_Assembly_-_Maduro.jpg)
In May 2017, President Maduro proposed the 2017 Venezuelan Constituent Assembly election, which was later held on 30 July 2017 despite wide international condemnation.[65][66] Upcoming presidential elections, which Maduro would most likely lose, have the possibility of being delayed from their planned dates under a new constitution since no timeline was given for the rewrite.[67][68][69][70] The United States sanctioned President Maduro following the election, labeling him as a "dictator", preventing him from entering the United States.[20]
Rule by decree
Beginning six months after being elected, Maduro has ruled by decree for the majority of his presidency: from 19 November 2013 to 19 November 2014,[4] 15 March 2015 to 31 December 2015, 15 January 2016 to present.[71][72]
Policies
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/82/UNASUR_respalda_a_Presidente_Evo_Morales_%289214480673%29.jpg/220px-UNASUR_respalda_a_Presidente_Evo_Morales_%289214480673%29.jpg)
Many of the policies that were in action throughout Maduro's presidency were the same or similar to policies created by his predecessor Hugo Chávez. Maduro stuck to Chávez's policies in order to remain popular to those who find a connection between the two. Despite the increasingly difficult crises facing Venezuela such as a faltering economy and high crime rate, Maduro continued the use of Chávez's policies.[73] According to Marsh, instead of making any policy changes, Maduro placed attention on his "hold on power by closing off the legal channels through which the opposition can act".[74] Shannon K. O'Neil of the Council on Foreign Relations stated that "After Chavez's death, Maduro has just continued and accelerated the authoritarian and totalitarian policies of Chavez".[75]
According to Professor Ramón Piñango, a sociologist from the Venezuelan University of IESA, "Maduro has a very strong ideological orientation, close to the Communist ideology. Contrary to Diosdado, he is not very pragmatic."[22]
Domestic
Crime
One of the first important presidential programs of Maduro became the "Safe Homeland" program, a massive police and military campaign to build security in the country. Three thousand soldiers were deployed to decrease homicide in Venezuela, which has one of the highest rates of homicide in Latin America.[76] Most of these troops were deployed in the state of Miranda (Greater Caracas), which has the highest homicide rate in Venezuela. According to the government, in 2012, more than 16,000 people were killed, a rate of 54 people per 100,000, although the Venezuela Violence Observatory, a campaign group, claims that the homicide rate was in fact 73 people per 100,000.[76] The government claims that the Safe Homeland program has reduced homicides by 55%.[77][78] The program had to be reinitiated one year later after the program's creator, Miguel Rodríguez Torres, was replaced by Carmen Melendez Teresa Rivas.[79] Murder also increased over the years since the program's initiation according to the Venezuela Violence Observatory, with the murder rate increasing to 82 per 100,000 in 2014.[80]
Economic policies
When elected in 2013, Maduro continued the majority of existing economic policies of his predecessor Hugo Chávez. When entering the presidency, Maduro's Venezuela faced a high inflation rate and large shortages of goods[81][82][83] that was left over from the previous policies of President Chávez.[84][85][86][11]
Maduro blamed capitalism for speculation that is driving high rates of inflation and creating widespread shortages of staples, and often said he was fighting an "economic war", calling newly enacted economic measures "economic offensives" against political opponents he and loyalists state are behind an international economic conspiracy.[87][88][89][90][91][92] However, Maduro has been criticized for only concentrating on public opinion instead of tending to the practical issues economists have warned the Venezuelan government about or creating any ideas to improve the economic situation in Venezuela such as the "economic war".[93][94]
Venezuela was ranked as the top spot globally with the highest misery index score in 2013,[95] 2014,[96] 2015[97][98] and 2016.[99] In 2014, Venezuela's economy entered an economic depression[100] that has continued as of 2017.[74]
Foreign policy
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f9/Vladimir_Putin_in_Venezuela_April_2010-29.jpeg/220px-Vladimir_Putin_in_Venezuela_April_2010-29.jpeg)
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/86/Secretary_Kerry_Speaks_With_Venezuelan_President_Maduro_%2829663133670%29.jpg/220px-Secretary_Kerry_Speaks_With_Venezuelan_President_Maduro_%2829663133670%29.jpg)
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2d/XIV_cumbre_del_ALBA-TCP.jpg/220px-XIV_cumbre_del_ALBA-TCP.jpg)
Maduro has accused the United States of intervention in Venezuela several times with his allegations ranging from post-election violence by "neo-Nazi groups", economic difficulties from what he called an "economic war" and various coup plots.[101][102][103] The United States denied such accusations[103] while analysts[who?] have called such allegations by Maduro as a way to distract Venezuelans from their problems.[104]
In early 2015 the Obama administration signed an executive order which imposed targeted sanctions on 7 Venezuelan officials whom the White House argued were instrumental in human rights violations, persecution of political opponents and significant public corruption and said that the country posed an "unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States."[105] Maduro responded to the sanctions in a couple of ways. He wrote an open letter in a full page ad in The New York Times in March 2015, stating that Venezuelans were "friends of the American people" and called President Obama's action of making targeted sanctions on the alleged human rights abusers a "unilateral and aggressive measure".[32][106] Examples of accusations of human rights abuses from the United States to Maduro's government included the murder of a political activist prior to legislative elections in Venezuela.[107] Maduro threatened to sue the United States over an executive order issued by the Obama Administration that declared Venezuela to be a threat to American security.[108] He also planned to deliver 10 million signatures, or signatures from about 1/3 of Venezuela's population, denouncing the United States' decree declaring the situation in Venezuela an "extraordinary threat to US national security".[109][110] and ordered all schools in the country to hold an "anti-imperialist day" against the United States with the day's activities including the "collection of the signatures of the students, and teaching, administrative, maintenance and cooking personnel".[110] Maduro further ordered state workers to apply their signatures in protest, with some workers reporting that firings of state workers occurred due to their rejection of signing the executive order protesting the "Obama decree".[110][111][112][113][114][115] There were also reports that members of Venezuelan armed forces and their families were ordered to sign against the United States decree.[110]
On 6 April 2015, twenty-five (25) ex-presidents issued called Declaración de Panamá,[116] a statement denouncing the VII Cumbre de las Américas, what they called "democratic alteration" in Venezuela, promoted by the government of Nicolas Maduro. The statement calls for the immediate release of "political prisoners" in Venezuela. Among the former heads of government that have called for improvements in Venezuela are: Jorge Quiroga (Bolivia); Sebastián Piñera (Chile): Andrés Pastrana, Álvaro Uribe and Belisario Betancur (Colombia); Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia, Laura Chinchilla, Óscar Arias, Luis Alberto Monge (Costa Rica), Osvaldo Hurtado (Ecuador); Alfredo Cristiani and Armando Calderón (EL Salvador); José María Aznar (Spain); Felipe Calderón and Vicente Fox (México), Mireya Moscoso (Panamá), Alejandro Toledo (Perú) and Luis Alberto Lacalle (Uruguay).[117]
Maduro has reached out to China for economic assistance while China has funneled billions of dollars from multiple loans into Venezuela.[118] China is Venezuela's second largest trade partner with two-thirds of Venezuelan exports to China composed of oil.[118] According to Mark Jones, a Latin American expert of the Baker Institute, China was "investing for strategic reasons" rather than ideological similarities.[118] The Venezuelan military has also used military equipment from China using the NORINCO VN-4 armoured vehicle against protesters during the 2014–15 Venezuelan protests, ordering hundreds more as a result of the demonstrations.[119][120]
Controversies
2014–2017 Venezuelan protests
CLAP program
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4a/Caja_CLAP.jpg/250px-Caja_CLAP.jpg)
Luisa Ortega Díaz, Chief Prosecutor of Venezuela from 2007 to 2017 revealed that President Maduro had been profiting from the shortages in Venezuela. The government-operated Local Supply and Production Committee (CLAP) that provides food to Venezuelans in need made contracts with Group Grand Limited, a group owned by Maduro through frontmen Rodolfo Reyes, Álvaro Uguedo Vargas and Alex Saab. Group Grand Limited, a Mexican entity owned by Maduro, would sell foodstuffs to CLAP and receive government funds.[121][122][123]
Conspiracy theories
Maduro and members of his entourage have voiced on several occasions of alleged conspiracies against Maduro and his government. Maduro continued the practice of his predecessor, Hugo Chávez, of denouncing alleged conspiracies and in a period of fifteen months following his election, dozens of conspiracies, some supposedly linked to assassination and coup attempts, were reported by Maduro's government.[124][125] In this same period, the number of attempted coups claimed by the Venezuelan government outnumbered all attempted and executed coups occurring worldwide in the same period.[126] In TV program La Hojilla, Mario Silva, a TV personality of the main state-run channel Venezolana de Televisión, stated in March 2015 that President Maduro had received about 13 million psychological attacks.[127]
Analysts and observers of such allegations state that Maduro uses such conspiracy theories as a strategy to distract Venezuelans from the root causes of some problems facing his government.[104][124][128][129] According to Foreign Policy, Maduro's predecessor, Hugo Chávez, "relied on his considerable populist charm, conspiratorial rhetoric, and his prodigious talent for crafting excuses" to avoid backlash from troubles Venezuela was facing, with Foreign Policy further stating that for Maduro, "the appeal of reworking the magic that once saved his mentor is obvious".[126] Such conspiracy theories presented by the Venezuelan government have never involved any substantial evidence.[110][124][129]
Andrés Cañizales, researcher from the Andrés Bello Catholic University, pointed that, as a result of the lack of reliable mainstream news broadcasting, most Venezuelan stay informed with social networking services. As a result, fake news and internet hoaxes have a higher impact in Venezuela than in other countries.[130]
United States involvement accusations
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a3/Nicolas_Maduro_military.jpg/220px-Nicolas_Maduro_military.jpg)
In early 2015, the Maduro government accused the United States of attempting to overthrow him. The Venezuelan government performed elaborate actions to respond to such alleged attempts and to convince the public that its claims were true.[126] The reactions included the arrest of Antonio Ledezma in February 2015, forcing American tourists to go through travel requirements and holding military marches and public exercises "for the first time in Venezuela's democratic history".[126] After the United States ordered sanctions to be placed on seven Venezuelan officials for alleged human rights violations, Maduro used anti-US rhetoric to bump up his approval ratings.[131][132] However, according to Venezuelan political scientist Isabella Picón, only about 15% of Venezuelans believed in the alleged coup attempt accusations at the time.[126]
In 2016, Maduro again claimed that the United States was attempting to assist the opposition with a coup attempt. On 12 January 2016, Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, threatened to invoke the Inter-American Democratic Charter, an instrument used to defend democracy in the Americas when threatened, when opposition National Assembly member were barred from taking their seats by the Maduro-aligned Supreme Court.[133] Human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch,[134] and the Human Rights Foundation[135] called for the OAS to invoke the Democratic Charter. After more controversies and pursuing a recall on Maduro, on 2 May 2016, opposition members of the National Assembly met with OAS officials to ask for the body to implement the Democratic Charter.[136] Two days later on 4 May, the Maduro government called for a meeting the next day with the OAS, with Venezuelan Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez stating that the United States and the OAS were attempting to overthrow Maduro.[137] On 17 May 2016 in a national speech, Maduro called OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro "a traitor" and stated that he worked for the CIA.[138] Almagro sent a letter rebuking Maduro, and refuting the claim.[139]
Drug trafficking and money laundering incidents
Narcosobrinos incident
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/76/Narcosobrinos_arrest.jpg/220px-Narcosobrinos_arrest.jpg)
Two nephews of Maduro's wife, Efraín Antonio Campo Flores and Francisco Flores de Freitas, were found guilty in a US court of conspiracy to import cocaine in November 2016, with some of their funds possibly assisting Maduro's presidential campaign in the 2013 Venezuelan presidential election and potentially for the 2015 Venezuelan parliamentary elections, with the funds mainly used to "help their family stay in power".[140][141][142] One informant stated that the two often flew out of Terminal 4 of Simon Bolivar Airport, a terminal reserved for the president.[140][141] Due to the fact that the nephews were arrested for narcotics trafficking, the media described the nephews as the "narcosobrinos".[143][144][145][146][147][148] Both nephews were sentenced 18 years in prison on 11 December 2017.[149]
After Maduro's nephews were apprehended by the US Drug Enforcement Administration for the illegal distribution of cocaine on 10 November 2015, Maduro posted a statement on Twitter criticizing "attacks and imperialist ambushes", which was viewed by many media outlets as being directed towards the United States.[150][151] Diosdado Cabello, a senior official in Maduro's government, was quoted as saying the arrests were a "kidnapping" by the United States.[152]
Secretary of the President investigation
In December 2015 following controversial investigations of money laundered drug money by the Bal Harbour Police Department and Glades County Police without the cooperation of the United States Department of Justice, a report from Miami Herald revealed that much of the drug money was ultimately funneled from multiple banks into the Venezuelan Banesco Bank with some of the largest payments wired to the bank. It was found that William Amaro Sanchez, a secretary and longtime friend of Maduro who was described as his "right-hand-man", had over $200,000 of the drug money transferred to his account. Juan Carlos Escort, head of Banesco, denied the allegations, although unnamed Banesco employees told The Miami Herald that it was Amaro's account and provided information that included his account number, full name and Venezuelan government identification number.[153][154]
Following these revelations, Panamanian lawyer and politician Guillermo Cochez called on Panama's Public Ministry to investigate accounts in Banesco related to the Venezuelan government, including accounts belonging to Willam Amaro Sanchez and also possible accounts belonging to relatives of President Maduro's wife, Cilia Flores. After Flores' nephews were arrested by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, it was discovered that one of the arrested nephews, Efraín Campo Flores, owned a Panamanian company, with Cilia Flores and other relatives belonging to the company's board of directors.[155]
Homophobic statements
During a tenth anniversary gathering commemorating the 2002 Venezuelan coup d'état attempt going into the 2012 Venezuelan presidential election, Maduro called opposition members "snobs" and "big faggots".[156][157]
During the presidential campaign of 2013, Maduro used homophobic attacks as a political weapon, calling representatives of the opposition "faggots".[158] Maduro used homophobic speech toward his opponent Henrique Capriles calling him a "little princess" and saying "I do have a wife, you know? I do like women!"[158][159][160]
In December 2014, amid the celebration of 15 years of the "Bolivarian Constitution", Maduro commented on the American drafted bill that would potentially penalize some government officials involved in corruption, drug trafficking and violation of human rights, saying on radio and television, "they grab their visa and where the mess has to shove, insert the visa in the ass".[161]
In April 2015, the Spanish Congress, held criticism of the situation in Venezuela, to which Maduro said "go to yours mother's" .[162]
Jose Zalt wedding incident
At the wedding of Jose Zalt, a Syrian-Venezuelan businessman who owns the clothing brand Wintex, on 14 March 2015, Maduro's son, Nicolas Ernesto Maduro Guerra, was seen being showered with American dollars at a gathering in the luxurious Gran Melia Hotel in Caracas.[32] The incident caused outrage among Venezuelans, who believed this to be hypocritical of President Maduro, especially since many Venezuelans were experiencing hardships due to the poor state of the economy and Maduro's public denouncements of capitalism.[32][163][164][165][166][167] The incident took place hours after the Venezuelan government military parade conducted against the United States which Maduro's government claims is behind an "economic war" with Venezuela.[101][165][168]
Odebrecht bribes
In an investigative interview with Euzenando Prazeres de Azevedo, president of Constructora Odebrecht in Venezuela, the executive revealed how Odebrecht paid $35 million to fund Maduro's 2013 presidential campaign if Odebrecht projects would be prioritized in Venezuela.[169] Americo Mata, Maduro's campaign manager, initially asked for $50 million for Maduro, though the final $35 million was settled.[169][170]
Pastrygate
In November 2017, while giving a lengthy, live broadcast concerning the starvation and poverty crisis within Venezuela; Maduro, unaware he was still being filmed, pulled out an empanada from his desk and began eating it.[171][172] This occurred amid controversy of Maduro gaining weight during the nationwide food and medicine shortage; with many on social media criticizing the publicly-broadcast incident.
Sanctions
Canada
On 22 September 2017, the Canadian government sanctioned members of the Maduro government, including Maduro, preventing Canadian nationals from participating in property and financial deals with him due to the rupture of Venezuela's constitutional order.[173][174]
United States
On 26 July 2017, thirteen government officials were sanctioned by the United States Department of Treasury due to their involvement with the 2017 Venezuelan Constitutional Assembly election.[175]
After continuing with the Constitutional Assembly election, the United States sanctioned Maduro, becoming one of the few heads of state sanctioned by the United States, with Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin stating "Maduro is a dictator who disregards the will of the Venezuelan people".[20] Maduro responded, saying he was "proud" of being sanctioned by the United States government.[176]
Recognition
Awards and orders | Country | Date | Place | Notes | Ref | |
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![]() |
Order of the Liberator | ![]() |
19 April 2013 | Caracas, Venezuela | Highest decoration of Venezuela, given to every president. | [177] |
![]() |
Order of the Liberator General San Martín | ![]() |
8 May 2013 | Buenos Aires, Argentina | Highest decoration of Argentina awarded by political ally Cristina Kirchner. Revoked on 11 August 2017 by President Mauricio Macri for "human rights violations". | [178] [179] [180] |
![]() |
Order of the Condor of the Andes | ![]() |
26 May 2013 | La Paz, Bolivia | Highest decoration of Bolivia. | [181] |
![]() |
Bicentenary Order of the Admirable Campaign | ![]() |
15 June 2013 | Trujillo, Venezuela | Venezuelan order. | [182] |
![]() |
Star of Palestine | ![]() |
16 May 2014 | Caracas, Venezuela | Highest decoration of Palestine. | [183] |
![]() |
Order of Augusto César Sandino | ![]() |
17 March 2015 | Managua, Nicaragua | Highest decoration of Nicaragua. | [184] |
![]() |
Order of José Martí | ![]() |
18 March 2016 | La Habana, Cuba | Cuban order. | [185] |
- In 2014, Maduro was named as one of TIME magazine's 100 Most Influential People. In the article, it explained that whether or not Venezuela collapses "now depends on Maduro", saying it also depends on whether Maduro "can step out of the shadow of his pugnacious predecessor and compromise with his opponents".[186]
- In 2016, the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Top 35 Predators of Press Freedom list placed Maduro as a "predator" to press freedom in Venezuela, with RSF noting his method of "carefully orchestrated censorship and economic asphyxiation" toward media organizations.[187][188]
See also
- 2016 state of emergency in Venezuela
- List of Presidents of Venezuela
- Supreme Tribunal of Justice (Venezuela)
- Venezuelan parliamentary election, 2015
References
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- ^ "Decreto Nacional 481/2013". Boletín Oficial. SAIJ. 8 May 2013. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
- ^ "Por decreto, el Gobierno le retiró a Nicolás Maduro la condecoración que le había otorgado Cristina en 2013" [By decree, the Government retired to Nicolás Maduro the decoration that had granted him Cristina in 2013]. La Nación (in Spanish). 11 August 2017. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
- ^ "Presidente Maduro fue condecorado con la orden Cóndor de los Andes en Bolivia". AVN. 26 May 2013. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
- ^ "Otorgan Orden Bicentenaria de Campaña Admirable a Maduro". El Universal. 15 June 2013. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
- ^ "Mahmud Abbas condecoró al Presidente Maduro con la Estrella Palestina". Venezolana de Televisión. 16 May 2014. Archived from the original on 17 May 2014. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
{{cite news}}
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suggested) (help) - ^ "Presidente Maduro fue condecorado con orden Augusto Sandino (+Comunicado), por reencarnar y encarnar "ideales de vida y obra de todos los maestros, guías, próceres, y héroes de la Patria Grande como combatiente martiano, bolivariano, sandinista, chavista, antiimperialista, y como irreductible defensor del derecho de su pueblo, y de Nuestra América-Caribeña toda, a la autodeterminación, la soberanía, la unidad, en respeto, reconocimiento y equidad"". Gobierno Bolivariano de Venezuela. Ministerio del Poder Popular para la Comunicación y la Información. 17 March 2015. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
- ^ "Condecorado Nicolás Maduro con la Orden José Martí (+ Fotos y Videos)". CubaDebate. 18 March 2016. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
- ^ Kumar, Nikhil (23 April 2014). "The man who holds Venezuela's future". Time. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
- ^ "Portrait of Nicolás Maduro | Reporters without borders". Reporters Without Borders (in French). Retrieved 3 November 2016.
- ^ "RSF issues new list of press freedom predators". Reporters Without Borders. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
External links
- Ministerio del Poder Popular para Relaciones Exteriores (Venezuelan Foreign Ministry) Template:Es icon
- Biography by CIDOB Template:Es icon