Nicolás Maduro Fast Facts

CNN Editorial Research

Here’s a look at the life of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Personal

Birth date: November 23, 1962

Birth place: Caracas, Venezuela

Birth name: Nicolás Maduro Moros

Father: Nicolás Maduro García

Mother: Teresa de Jesús Moros

Marriage: Cilia Flores

Children: Nicolás Jr.

Other Facts

Worked as a bus driver for Caracas Metro and belonged to the transit union.

Maduro campaigned for Hugo Chavez’s release from prison for the 1992 attempted coup to overthrow President Carlos Andres Perez.

After Chavez’s release, Maduro helped him found the political party Fifth Republic Movement.

Timeline

1999 – Maduro is elected to the National Constituent Assembly, the body convened to draft a new constitution.

2000 – Is elected to the National Assembly, the country’s legislative branch of government

2005-2006 – Serves as Speaker of the National Assembly.

2006-2013 – Serves as foreign minister.

October 12, 2012 – Is selected by Chavez to serve as vice president.

December 9, 2012 – Facing his fourth surgery for cancer, Chavez endorses Maduro to succeed him.

March 8, 2013 – Is sworn in as interim president following the death of Chavez.

April 14, 2013 – Wins the presidential election by fewer than two percentage points. Maduro’s opponent, Henrique Capriles Radonski demands a recount.

April 17, 2013 – A manual recount is ruled as unconstitutional by the country’s chief justice.

April 19, 2013 – Maduro is sworn in.

September 30, 2013 – Maduro announces on state-run TV that he is expelling three US diplomats. He claims they were involved in a widespread power outage earlier in the month. “Get out of Venezuela,” he says, listing several names. “Yankee go home. Enough abuses already.”

February 12, 2014 – Ongoing student protests attract global attention when three people are killed. Major social and economic problems have fueled the protests, with some blaming the government for those problems.

February 20, 2014 – Venezuela revokes press credentials for CNN journalists in the country and denies them for other CNN journalists entering the country, following Maduro’s announcement that he would expel CNN if it did not “rectify” its coverage of anti-government protests, calling it war propaganda.

February 21, 2014 – Maduro calls for US President Barack Obama to “accept the challenge” of holding direct talks with Venezuela.

February 22, 2014 – Venezuela reissues press credentials for CNN journalists in the country.

January 15, 2016 – Following the release of years of economic data, Maduro declares a state of economic emergency.

May 1, 2017 – Maduro announces that he has signed an executive order paving the way for changes in the constitution that will reshape the legislature and redefine his executive powers.

May 13, 2016 – Maduro declares a constitutional state of emergency, which expands on the economic emergency he declared in January.

October 30, 2016 – Maduro participates in talks with political opponents for the first time in two years.

July 30, 2017 – An election is held to replace the National Assembly with a new pro-Maduro legislative body called the National Constituent Assembly. Amid clashes between police and protestors, at least six people are killed. Although Maduro claims victory, opposition leaders say the vote is fraudulent.

July 31, 2017 – The US Treasury Department sanctions Maduro’s assets and bars US citizens from dealing with him. This comes a day after elections are held for a new lawmaking body.

January 24, 2018 – Announces he will run for reelection.

May 20, 2018 – During an election denounced by opposition leaders and the international community, Maduro wins another six-year term. Voter turnout falls to 46%, down from an 80% participation rate in 2013. The next day, an alliance of 14 Latin American nations and Canada, known as the Lima Group, releases a statement calling the vote illegitimate.

August 4, 2018 – Several drones armed with explosives fly towards Maduro in an apparent assassination attempt during a military parade. The next day, the interior minister announces that six people have been arrested in connection with the attack. Maduro is not injured.

August 5, 2018 – Interior Minister Néstor Reverol says that six people have been arrested after the apparent assassination attempt on Maduro.

September 8, 2018 – The New York Times reports secret meetings between US officials and Venezuelan military officers planning a coup against Maduro. CNN confirms the report, which describes a series of meetings over the course of a year.

September 17, 2018 – Maduro is criticized for eating a lavish meal by celebrity chef Nusret Gökçe, also known as Salt Bae, in the midst of a food crisis.

September 25, 2018 – The United States imposes sanctions on Maduro’s wife and three other members of his inner circle, as an attempt to weaken his grip on power.

September 26, 2018 – Maduro speaks at the UN General Assembly, calling the humanitarian crisis in his country a “fabrication.” He accuses the United States and its Latin American allies of “trying to put their hands in our country.”

October 8, 2018 – One of the suspects in the apparent assassination attempt dies in a fall from the tenth floor of a building. Intelligence officials say the death was a suicide.

January 10, 2019 – Maduro is sworn in for his second term, although most democratic countries in the region refuse to recognize him as president. The Organization of American States says its member nations voted 19-6, with eight abstentions, to not recognize the legitimacy of Maduro’s government.

January 23, 2019 – Juan Guaido, who leads the National Assembly, declares himself the interim president amid anti-government protests. Following Guaido’s announcement, US President Donald Trump says that the United States recognizes him as the legitimate president. Maduro accuses the United States of backing an attempted coup and gives US diplomats 72 hours to leave the country.

April 30, 2019 – During a live televised address, Maduro claims troops loyal to him defeated a “coup-de-etat attempt” by Trump and national security adviser John Bolton. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tells CNN that Maduro had been preparing to depart the country via airplane, but Russians convinced him to stay. A spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry says Pompeo’s claim is false.

July 4, 2019 – The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights publishes a report highly critical of the Maduro regime. Based on research conducted January 2018 to May 2019, the report “highlights patterns of violations directly and indirectly affecting all human rights.” Responding a few days later, Maduro says the report contains manipulations and inaccurate data.

March 26, 2020 – The Justice Department announces narco-terrorism and other criminal charges against Maduro and senior leaders from his government. Federal prosecutors in New York’s Southern District, Miami and Washington, DC, allege the officials are the leaders of the so-called Cartel de los Soles and coordinate with the Colombian rebel group FARC to traffic cocaine to the United States.

May 4, 2020 – In a live address on state television, Maduro reports that two American “mercenaries” have been apprehended after a failed coup attempt to capture and remove him. He identifies the captured Americans as Luke Denman, 34, and Airan Berry, 41. He shows what he claims are the US passports and driver’s licenses of the men, along with their ID cards from Silvercorp, a Florida-based security services company. On August 8, the men are sentenced to 20 years in prison.

July 24, 2021 – During an interview with Venezuela’s state-run television, Maduro says he is ready to open negotiations with the Venezuelan opposition in August.

October 16, 2021 – Venezuela suspends on-going negotiations with the opposition following the Cape Verde extradition of Colombian businessman Alex Saab, alleged financier to Madura, to the United States on money laundering charges.

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