Caracas (Venezuela), 1962
By Carlos Serrano Ferreira
Nicolás Maduro Moros was born in El Valle, a neighborhood in the Venezuelan capital, on November 23, 1962, into a lower-middle-class family of left-wing militants and trade unionists. His father, Nicolás Maduro García, was one of the founders of the Movimiento Electoral del Pueblo (MEP), a socialist organization that emerged from a split within the social-democratic Acción Democrática (AD) in 1967.
Aside from a brief involvement in his adolescence with a rock group called Enigma and being a top youth baseball player, what marked his youth from an early age was his socialist activism. Maduro positioned himself to the left of his family, influenced by the Cuban Revolution. From childhood, he witnessed the actions of repression at the Central University of Venezuela (UCV), near his home. In the fourth grade, he was suspended for three days for defending the Cuban Revolution against criticisms made by the nuns who taught at his school. He began collaborating with left-wing youth movements early on, starting his activism at the age of twelve in the Frente de Unidad Estudiantil del Liceo Urbaneja Achelpohl, later joining the Ruptura organization, the legal branch of the clandestine Partido de la Revolución Venezolana (PRV) of Douglas Bravo.
He later became involved with the Socialist League, a Maoist organization and legal front for the Organización de Revolucionarios (OR). Maduro stood out as a political organizer and agitator, which led to him being sent to Havana between 1986 and 1987 for training courses at the Escuela Superior de Cuadros Ñico López of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC), where he studied Marxist philosophy, political economy, Latin American history, and other subjects. Upon his return, he participated in the Caracazo.
In 1990, after passing a competition, he began working at the Caracas Metro as a bus driver for Metrobús, following a plan from the Socialist League to build a combative trade union force. He began leading mobilizations, became a union leader, and in 1993, he founded and directed the Sindicato de los Trabajadores del Metro de Caracas (SITRAMECA), representing it in negotiations with employers.
Though he was caught by surprise during the 4th of February 1992 insurrection and feared further persecution—having endured political repression throughout his career—he actively participated in the new failed uprising on November 27, 1992, mobilizing people and neighborhoods in Caracas. During this time, he began to make contact with the Bolivarian military movement of the insurrectional leader Hugo Chávez, with whom he first met in prison on December 16, 1993. Since Chávez’s release in March 1994, Maduro stood by his side. In December 1994, he was invited by Chávez to join the national leadership of the reorganized Movimiento Bolivariano Revolucionario 200. In 1997, he participated in the formation of the Movimiento Quinta República (MVR) in support of Chávez’s presidential candidacy, which he won in 1998 with 56% of the vote.
In the same 2012 election, Nicolás Maduro became a deputy and leader of the parliamentary faction. With the call for a constituent assembly, he presided over the National Constituent Assembly of 1999. He was re-elected as a deputy, and in January 2005, he became president of the National Assembly, a position he held until 2006, when he resigned to accept Chávez’s invitation to serve as Minister of Foreign Affairs, a role he held until January 2013. He became known as a key figure in the development of Bolivarian foreign policy, working on Latin American unity projects such as ALBA and UNASUR, as well as global counter-hegemony efforts, peace-building, and multipolarity. He also strongly opposed U.S. imperialism, forging strong new ties with countries like Russia, China, Syria, and Iran. Maduro deepened solidarity with Palestine and socialist Cuba, playing a key role in Cuba’s return to the OAS after 47 years of suspension. He was also one of the leading voices against the coups in Honduras (2009) that ousted Manuel Zelaya and in Paraguay (2012) that removed Fernando Lugo.
On October 7, 2012, Hugo Chávez was re-elected for a fourth term, and with Elías Jaua’s departure from the vice-presidency to run for governor of Miranda, Maduro was appointed executive vice-president on October 10, 2012. On December 8, 2012, Chávez designated Maduro as his successor in case he did not survive the cancer he was battling. This move preemptively addressed the potential dispute between Maduro and Diosdado Cabello for the succession.
Following Chávez’s death on March 5, 2013, and despite opposition protests, the Supreme Court declared Maduro the president of the Republic, ruling his candidacy in the presidential elections as legitimate. The elections were held on April 14, 2013, in which Maduro won with 50.66% of the vote, defeating opposition candidate Henrique Capriles, who received 49.07%. Since then, Maduro has faced persistent efforts from opponents who question his legitimacy, accusing him of electoral fraud and demanding a recount, which only reaffirmed his victory. His presidency has also faced assassination attempts and orchestrated coups supported by Venezuelan oligarchies and the U.S., alongside economic destabilization efforts aimed at undermining the revolutionary process. Maduro governs in a difficult international context, particularly with the decline in oil prices, which is the main export product of Venezuela.
On a personal note, Maduro is married to Cilia Flores, a lawyer, former deputy, and former president of the National Assembly, who became the first woman to hold that position. She also served as the country’s attorney general.
