Who Is Nicolas Maduro? Venezuelan President 'Captured, Flown Out' By US
The attack in Venezuela marks the first US direct intervention in Latin America since the invasion of Panama in 1989 to depose military leader Manuel Noriega.
The United States has struck Venezuela and captured its President Nicolas Maduro, President Donald Trump said on Saturday. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said that Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores have been "captured and flown out of the country".
The US President did not give more information about his Venezuelan counterpart, including where he had been captured.
As per the BBC, the US struck major sites in Venezuela, including the capital Caracas and military facilities. The development comes amid a long period of heightened tensions between the two countries. Amid the developing situation in Venezuela, let's take a detailed look at Nicolas Maduro’s life.
Who Is Nicolas Maduro?
Born on November 23, 1962, in Caracas, Nicolas Maduro Moros used to work as a bus driver for Caracas Metro and was part of the transit union, according to CNN.
He came into the spotlight when he campaigned for Hugo Chavez's release from prison in relation to the 1992 attempted coup, which attempted to overthrow President Carlos Andres Perez, as per CNN. He helped Chavez found the political party Fifth Republic Movement. Maduro was first elected to the National Assembly in the year 2000. He soon rose to prominence and became a member of Chavez's inner circle. He is married to Cilia Flores and has one son, Nicolas Jr.
The 63-year-old strongman has been the President of Venezuela since 2013. Seen as the successor of Hugo Chavez, Maduro declared victory in the 2018 presidential election, as per the US Department of State.
The next year, Venezuela’s National Assembly invoked the country's constitution and alleged that Maduro had usurped power and was not the elected leader of the country. Since 2019, over 50 countries, including the US, have refused to recognise him as Venezuela's head of state.
Maduro once again declared victory in the 2024 Venezuelan presidential election, despite opposition leaders and election monitors claiming he stole the election. He is accused of leading the so-called Cartel of the Suns, which aims to flood the US with drugs.
According to the State Department, Maduro took part in a "corrupt and violent narco-terrorism conspiracy" with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, which is a designated Foreign Terrorist Organisation, negotiating for multi-tonne shipments of cocaine produced by the group and directing the Cartel of the Suns to provide FARC with military-grade weapons, among other charges.
In March 2020, he was charged with narco-terrorism, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, conspiracy to import cocaine and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices in the Southern District of New York. The United States had increased the reward for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of the leader from $15 million in 2020 to $50 million in August 2025.
Maduro, for his part, has accused the US of wanting to take control of Venezuela’s oil reserves, the largest in the world, as per Reuters.
US Strikes On Venezuela
As per the BBC, Venezuela announced a state of national emergency and rejected the "military aggression" of the US. The country’s defence minister, Vladimir Padrino, told the outlet that the government is compiling information about the casualties, alleging that the strikes hit civilian areas.
The attack in Venezuela marks the first US direct intervention in Latin America since the invasion of Panama in 1989 to depose military leader Manuel Noriega.
The move followed weeks of airstrikes on speed boats allegedly carrying narcotics through Venezuelan waters. The strikes, which later extended to the eastern Caribbean, Pacific and elsewhere, have resulted in 110 deaths so far. The US forces also confiscated two sanctioned oil tankers. Trump made reference to the first land strike over Christmas.
