Kathrine Frich
Nicolás Maduro was a name largely confined to diplomats, analysts and Venezuelans living through political crisis.
That changed suddenly after US President Donald Trump ordered his capture from Venezuela, thrusting the country’s leader into global headlines.
As scrutiny intensifies, these five facts help explain who Maduro is and how he reached this point.
1. Working-class roots
Nicolás Maduro was born on November 23, 1962, in the working-class El Valle neighbourhood of Caracas.
He grew up in a household shaped by organised labour and left-wing politics.
His father, Nicolás Maduro García, was a trade union leader, while his mother, Teresa de Jesús Moros, raised four children.
Maduro has said his grandparents were of Sephardic Jewish descent and converted to Catholicism after settling in Venezuela.
He attended the public Liceo José Ávalos school, where he became active in student politics, though there are no official records confirming he graduated.
2. Politics before power
Before entering national politics, Maduro worked as a bus driver and union organiser. He has said his worldview was heavily influenced by his father’s activism.
Maduro has also spoken about his cultural interests, once saying he enjoyed Western rock music and frequently quoted John Lennon.
These early experiences shaped his political identity long before he entered the presidential palace.
3. Not Chávez’s clear heir
Hugo Chávez, who transformed Venezuelan politics after winning the presidency in 1998, died of cancer in March 2013. Maduro later won the election held after Chávez’s death.
However, the transition was not smooth. According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, opposition leader Henrique Capriles challenged the result and called for a full recount, citing alleged irregularities.
Maduro ultimately won by a narrow margin, deepening political polarisation.
4. The drone attack
In August 2018, Maduro survived an assassination attempt during a military parade in Caracas. Explosive-laden drones were flown toward the stage where he was delivering a speech.
He escaped without injury, and Venezuela’s interior minister announced that six people had been arrested in connection with the plot.
CNN later reported that one suspect linked to the case died in October 2018 after falling from the 10th floor of a building. Authorities said the death was a suicide.
5. A devotion that shaped his presidency
One of the more unusual aspects of Nicolás Maduro’s personal life is his spiritual attachment to the Indian religious figure Sai Baba.
The belief was introduced to him through his wife, Cilia Flores, and later became part of his public identity.
Maduro’s connection to Sai Baba came into the open after a visit to India in 2005. Over time, the symbolism associated with the spiritual leader appeared in the language and rituals of Maduro’s political life.
When Sai Baba died in 2011, Maduro was serving as Venezuela’s foreign minister.
He pushed for the country to observe official mourning, a rare move for the death of a non-Venezuelan spiritual figure and one seldom seen among governments worldwide.
