Nicolás Maduro - President of Venezuela, Life Achievements and Life

Nicolás Maduro Moros was born in Caracas, Venezuela, on 23 November 1962. His father was Nicolás Maduro Garcia, a leftist trade union leader, while his mother was Teresa de Jesus Moros. He was raised as Roman Catholic. He has three sisters Maria Teresa, Josefina, and Anita.

He attended a public school named Liceo José Ávalos. He showed signs of following in his father’s footsteps by getting involved with the Student Union at the school, soon becoming its president. He formed an early interest in politics as well. He did not complete his schooling and started working after dropping out.

Nicolás Maduro initially worked for several years as a bus driver, after having found employment with the Caracas Metro company. His political career began in the 1980s, after he formed an informal labor syndicate to represent the bus drivers of the company. Later, he was also employed as a bodyguard by José Vicente Rangel during his presidential campaign.

During the early 1990s, he joined the Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement- 200, also known as the MBR-200. He campaigned for the release of Hugo Chávez when the latter was in prison due to his revolutionary actions.

In 1998, Maduro was elected to the Venezuelan Chamber of Deputies on the MVR ticket. Later, in 2000, he was elected to the National Assembly as an MP. In 2005, he was elected to the role of Speaker.

The following year, Maduro was appointed as the Foreign Minister, though he didn’t speak any foreign languages. The stances of his foreign policy included support for Libya, which at that time, was under Dictator Muammar Gaddafi’s rule.

Maduro held the role of Foreign Minister till he was appointed as the Vice President of Venezuela, after Hugo Chavez won the presidential election in 2012. Two months later, Chavez, who had a history of cancer, announced that his cancer had returned, and stated that should his condition worsen, Maduro would be the one to succeed him as he had proven himself to be a capable leader.

Chavez died on 5 March 2013 and Maduro assumed the duties of the President. According to the Venezuelan Constitution, a presidential election should be held within thirty days, should a President die within the first four years of his term. Maduro, being the candidate of the Socialist Party for the election, narrowly defeated his opposition candidate, Henrique Capriles.

Nicolas Maduro was formally appointed the President of Venezuela on 19 April 2013. He appointed Jorge Arrezea as his Vice President.

Maduro’s presidency proved to be controversial from the very beginning. During the first part of the year 2014, citizens of Venezuela took to streets to protest his government. With an increase in international oil prices, the economy of the country also suffered. The country also witnessed a rise in crime rates during his presidency.

The ‘Safe Homeland’ program was one of the most significant programs launched during Maduro’s rule. It was a massive police and military campaign to build security in the country as it had one of the highest rates of homicides in Latin America. According to the government, the program reduced homicide rates by 55%. However, the Venezuela Violence Observatory stated that the crime rate actually increased under the Maduro government.

Maduro continued the majority of his predecessor’s economic policies. He received criticism as during his rule the country faced a high inflation rate, as well as shortages of goods. Maduro, in turn, put the blame on capitalism, and said that he was fighting an economic war. However, his words were criticized to be impractical. The country stood at the top spot globally with the highest misery index in 2013, 2014, and 2015.

The nation’s economy entered a recession in 2014. China, being Venezuela’s second largest trade partner, provided economic assistance in form of billions of dollars in loans. However, it was believed that China was actually investing for strategic reasons, rather than for ideological similarities. To add to Venezuela’s woes, the diplomatic relations with American worsened during Maduro’s rule, and Venezuela was declared by the US as a threat to its security.

Nicolas Maduro has voiced his opinion on so-called conspiracies against him and his government on several occasions. Even assassination and coup attempts have been claimed by the Venezuelan government, though the theories they have presented have never had any real evidence. It is believed that such conspiracy theories are actually strategies to distract the people from some of the real problems they were facing.

Maduro has also accused the American government of attempting to overthrow him. After the arrest of lawyer and politician Antonio Ledezma in early 2015, American tourists were forced to go through strict travel requirements. Once again in 2016, Maduro claimed that the US was assisting the opposition with a coup attempt. However, his claims lacked evidence, and wasn’t believed by most of the public.

On several occasions, Maduro has also been criticized for his extremely homophobic comments. He had used homophobic verbal attacks on the members of the opposition during the presidential campaign of 2013.

In 2016, two nephews of his wife were found guilty of illicit activities such as drug trafficking. It was assumed that the funds earned through such activities probably assisted Maduro during his presidential campaign, as well as helped his government stay in power.

Nicolas Maduro is married to Cilia Flores, a lawyer and politician. She had replaced him as the President of the National Assembly after his resignation in 2006. Even though the two had been romantically involved since the 1990s, their marriage took place in July 2013.

Maduro has a son, Nicolás Maduro Guerra, whom he has appointed in several senior government posts, including Chief of Presidency’s Special Inspector’s Body, and head of the National Film School.

Despite being raised as a Roman Catholic, Maduro has been reported to be a follower of Sathya Sai Baba, a renowned Indian spiritual guru and philanthropist.

In 2014, Maduro was named as one of TIME Magazine’s ‘100 Most Influential People’.