Khaberni - US President Donald Trump, who has been accusing the Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of running drug cartels and committing other crimes, has been pressuring the strongman to resign for months.
Here are some key facts about Maduro, who Trump said was arrested by US forces on Saturday:
- Maduro was born to a working-class family on November 23, 1962, and is the son of a union leader. Maduro worked as a bus driver during the time Army officer Hugo Chavez led a failed coup attempt in 1992.
- Maduro organized a campaign for the release of Chavez from prison and became one of the staunchest supporters of his leftist agenda. He also won a seat in the legislative assembly after Chavez's election in 1998.
- Maduro was promoted to become the president of the National Assembly and then Minister of Foreign Affairs, traveling around the world to establish international alliances through oil-funded aid programs.
- Chavez selected Maduro as his successor, and he was elected president by a narrow margin in 2013 after Chavez's death.
- The country experienced a disastrous economic collapse under his tenure, marked by rampant inflation and severe shortages of goods. His term is notorious for alleged election rigging, food shortages, and human rights abuses, including violent crackdowns on protests in 2014 and 2017, prompting millions of Venezuelans to migrate.
- The United States and other powers imposed severe sanctions on his government. In 2020, Washington charged him with corruption and others. Maduro denied committing these charges.
- Maduro swore in for a third term in January 2025 after 2024 elections that were widely condemned by international observers and the opposition as rigged, and thousands of people who protested the government's announcement of his victory were arrested.
- Last month, a fact-finding mission by the United Nations concluded that the Bolivarian National Guard committed grave human rights violations and crimes against humanity over more than a decade while mostly targeting political opponents with impunity.
- The repressive measures taken by his government were highlighted by awarding the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize to opposition leader Maria Corina Machado.
