From bus driver to president: The story of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro

CARACAS, Jan 3: Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s former president, was captured Saturday during a US military operation in Caracas, ending a decades-long political career that saw the country’s democratic institutions weaken and its economy collapse.
US President Donald Trump announced the capture early Saturday, while Vice President Delcy Rodriguez confirmed that the whereabouts of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, remained unknown. Attorney General Pam Bondi stated that the couple would face charges following a New York indictment, marking the culmination of months of US pressure on Maduro’s government.
Maduro’s political career began in the 1980s after a year of ideological training in Cuba.
Upon returning to Venezuela, he became a union leader for the Caracas Metro and joined Hugo Chavez’s Bolivarian movement following Chavez’s 1994 pardon for a failed coup attempt.
Maduro rose through the ranks, serving as lawmaker, National Assembly president, foreign minister, and briefly as vice president.
Chavez’s final address in 2013 named Maduro as his political heir, securing him a narrow victory in that year’s presidential election. He married Flores shortly after taking office, calling her his “first combatant” and a key adviser.
His presidency was marked by political, social, and economic crises. Opposition protests erupted early in his tenure, leading to violent crackdowns, hundreds of arrests, and dozens of deaths.
In 2015, Maduro’s United Socialist Party lost control of the National Assembly, prompting him to establish a pro-government Constituent Assembly in 2017, which sparked months of violent protests.
An assassination attempt via explosive-laden drones occurred in 2018.
Economic mismanagement saw hyperinflation exceed 130,000 percent, oil production fall drastically, and millions of Venezuelans flee.
Maduro postponed elections, barred opposition candidates, and ran virtually unopposed in 2018.
Later economic reforms in 2021 and limited concessions to opposition parties provided temporary relief but did not halt political repression, which included detaining leaders and restricting electoral participation.
The 2024 presidential election was widely disputed, with evidence indicating Maduro lost to Edmundo Gonzalez by more than a 2-to-1 margin, yet he was sworn in for a third term in 2025, triggering mass protests.
By mid-2025, US military buildup and pressure over alleged narco-terrorism marked the beginning of Maduro’s downfall, culminating in the US operation that captured him and ended his nearly two-decade rule, leaving Venezuela at a critical turning point in its political history. (AP)