CNN
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Here’s a look at the life of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Date of birth: November 23, 1962
Place of birth: Caracas, Venezuela
Birth name: Nicolas Maduro Moros
Father: Nicolas Maduro Garcia
Mother: Thérèse of Jesus Moros
Marriage: Flores Eyelashes
Children: Nicholas Jr.
Worked as a bus driver for the Caracas metro and belonged to the public transport union.
Maduro campaigned for the release of Hugo Chávez from prison for the 1992 coup attempt to overthrow President Carlos Andres Pérez.
After Chávez’s release, Maduro helped him found the Fifth Republic Movement political party.
1999 – Maduro is elected to the National Constituent Assembly, the body convened to draft a new constitution.
2000 – Is elected to the National Assembly, the legislative branch of the country’s government
2005-2006 – Is president of the National Assembly.
2006-2013 – Serves as Minister of Foreign Affairs.
October 12, 2012 – Is chosen by Chavez to serve as vice president.
December 9, 2012 – Facing his fourth cancer surgery, Chavez supports Maduro to succeed him.
March 8, 2013 – He was sworn in as interim president after Chávez’s death.
April 14, 2013 – Won the presidential election by less than two percentage points. Maduro’s opponent, Henrique Capriles Radonski, is demanding a recount. On April 17, a manual recount was declared unconstitutional by the country’s chief justice.
April 19, 2013 – Maduro takes oath.
September 30, 2013 – Maduro announces on public television that he is expelling three American diplomats. He claims they were involved in a widespread power outage earlier this month. “Leave Venezuela,” he said, naming several names. “The Yankees are going home. Enough abuse already.
February 12, 2014 – Ongoing student protests attract worldwide attention when three people are killed. Major social and economic problems have fueled the protests, with some blaming the government for these problems.
February 20, 2014 – Venezuela revokes press accreditations of CNN journalists in the country and denies them to other CNN journalists entering the country, following Maduro’s announcement that he would expel CNN if it did not “rectify” its coverage anti-government protests, calling it war propaganda. On February 22, Venezuela reissues the press accreditations of the country’s CNN journalists.
February 21, 2014 – Maduro calls on US President Barack Obama to “accept the challenge” of holding direct negotiations with Venezuela.
January 15, 2016 – After the release of several years of economic data, Maduro declares a state of economic emergency.
May 1, 2017 – Maduro announces he has signed a decree paving the way for changes to the constitution that will reshape the legislature and redefine its executive powers.
May 13, 2016 – Maduro declares a constitutional state of emergency, which extends to the economic emergency he declared in January.
October 30, 2016 – Maduro is participating in negotiations with political opponents for the first time in two years.
July 30, 2017 – Elections are being held to replace the National Assembly with a new pro-Maduro legislative body called the National Constituent Assembly. Amid clashes between police and demonstrators, at least six people are killed. Even though Maduro claims victory, opposition leaders say the vote was fraudulent.
July 31, 2017 – THE The US Treasury Department is sanctioning Maduro’s assets and banning US citizens from dealing with him. This comes a day after elections for a new legislative body were held.
January 24, 2018 – Announces that he will run for re-election.
May 20, 2018 – In an election denounced by opposition leaders and the international community, Maduro won another six-year term. The electoral participation rate fell to 46%, compared to 80% in 2013. The next day, an alliance of 14 Latin American countries and Canada, known as the Lima Group, issues a statement calling the vote illegitimate.
August 4, 2018 – Several drones armed with explosives fly toward Maduro in an apparent assassination attempt during a military parade. The next day, the Minister of the Interior announced that six people had been arrested in connection with the attack. Maduro is not injured.
August 5, 2018 – Interior Minister Néstor Reverol said six people had been arrested after the apparent assassination attempt on Maduro.
September 8, 2018 – The New York Times reports secret meetings between U.S. officials and Venezuelan military officers planning a coup against Maduro. CNN confirms the report, which describes a series of meetings over the course of a year.
September 17, 2018 – Maduro is under fire for eating a lavish meal from celebrity chef Nusret Gökçe, also known as Salt Bae, in the midst of a food crisis.
September 25, 2018 – The United States is imposing sanctions on Maduro’s wife and three other members of his entourage, in an attempt to weaken his grip on power.
September 26, 2018 – Maduro speaks at the United Nations General Assembly, calling the humanitarian crisis in his country a “fabrication.” He accuses the United States and its Latin American allies of “trying to get their hands on our country.”
October 8, 2018 – One of the suspects in this apparent assassination attempt dies in a fall from the tenth floor of a building. Intelligence officials say it was a suicide.
January 10, 2019 – Maduro is sworn in for his second term, although most democratic countries in the region refuse to recognize him as president. The Organization of American States says its member countries voted 19-6, with eight abstentions, not to recognize the legitimacy of Maduro’s government.
January 23, 2019 – Juan Guaido, who heads the National Assembly, declares himself interim president amid anti-government protests. Following Guaido’s announcement, US President Donald Trump said the United States recognized him as the legitimate president. Maduro accuses the United States of supporting a coup attempt and gives American diplomats 72 hours to leave the country.
April 30, 2019 – In a live televised speech, Maduro says troops loyal to him defeated a “coup attempt” by Trump and national security adviser John Bolton. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told CNN that Maduro was preparing to fly out of the country, but the Russians convinced him to stay. A Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said Pompeo’s claims were false.
July 4, 2019 – The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights publishes a report very critical of the Maduro regime. Based on research conducted from January 2018 to May 2019, the report “highlights patterns of violations directly and indirectly affecting all human rights.” Responding a few days later, Maduro claims the report contains manipulation and inaccurate data.
March 26, 2020 – Justice Department announces narcoterrorism and other criminal charges against Maduro and top leaders of his government. Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York, Miami and Washington, D.C., say those responsible are leaders of the so-called Cartel de los Soles and coordinate with the Colombian rebel group FARC to traffic cocaine to the UNITED STATES.
May 4, 2020 – In a speech live on state television, Maduro reports that two American “mercenaries” have been apprehended after a coup attempt to capture and deport him. He identifies the captured Americans as Luke Denman, 34, and Airan Berry, 41. He shows what he claims are the men’s U.S. passports and driver’s licenses, as well as their identification cards from Silvercorp, a Florida-based security services company. On August 8, the men were sentenced to 20 years in prison.
July 24, 2021 – In an interview with Venezuelan public television, Maduro said he was ready to open negotiations with the Venezuelan opposition in August.
October 16, 2021 – Venezuela is suspending ongoing negotiations with the opposition following the extradition of Colombian businessman Alex Saab, an alleged Maduro financier, to the United States on money laundering charges.
September 20, 2022 – A new UN report documents crimes against humanity, including torture committed by Venezuelan security forces. The report says orders to commit these crimes came from Maduro and other senior officials.
In photos: Venezuela in crisis
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