The US administration accuses him of leading drug cartels and other crimes and has recently increased pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Who is he?
In connection with the situation in Venezuela, Reuters presents a portrait of Nicolas Maduro, whom US President Donald Trump said earlier today that he had been captured by US forces and taken to the US to stand trial. Trump, whose administration accuses Maduro of running drug cartels and other crimes, has been pressuring Maduro to step down for months.
He is a working-class man
Maduro was born into a working-class family on November 23, 1962. He is the son of a labor union leader. His father was a bus driver when army officer Hugo Chavez led a failed coup attempt in 1992.
Maduro has campaigned for Chavez's release from prison and has become an ardent supporter of his leftist political agenda. He won a seat in parliament after Chávez was elected president in 1998.
He rose to become president of the National Assembly and then minister of foreign affairs, traveling the world to build international alliances through aid programs financed by oil revenues.
He led the country into hyperinflation and poverty.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez named him his chosen successor, and after his death, Maduro was effectively elected president in 2013.
During his rule, the country experienced a dramatic economic collapse marked by hyperinflation and chronic shortages of goods. Maduro's rule has been marked by alleged rigged elections, food shortages, and human rights abuses, including a harsh crackdown on protests in 2014 and 2017. Millions of Venezuelans have emigrated abroad.
His government has been subject to severe sanctions by the United States and other countries. In 2020, Washington charged him with corruption and other crimes, which Maduro denies.
A third term after electoral fraud?
In January 2025, Maduro was sworn in for a third term after elections in 2024, which were widely condemned by international observers and the opposition as fraudulent. Thousands of people who protested against the government's declared victory were then imprisoned.
A UN fact-finding mission said last month that the Bolivarian National Guard had committed serious human rights violations and crimes against humanity for more than a decade, targeting political opponents, often with impunity.
The repressive measures of the Maduro regime were further highlighted by the awarding of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, who was barred by the authorities in Caracas from running in the 2024 presidential election.
Maduro to stand trial in the US
In early 2026, after airstrikes in the capital Caracas, US special forces "captured" the incumbent president of Venezuela and his wife and took them to the US. A district court in New York State has indicted them on drug trafficking charges, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced.