cnn
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Here’s a look at the life of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Birthdate: November 23, 1962
Place of birth: Caracas Venezuela
Birth name: Nicolás Maduro Moros
Father: Nicolás Maduro García
Mother: Teresa of Jesus Moros.
Marriage: Cilia Flores
Children: Nicolas Jr.
He worked as a bus driver for the Caracas Metro and belonged to the transit union.
Maduro campaigned for the release from prison of Hugo Chávez for the 1992 coup attempt to overthrow President Carlos Andrés Pérez.
After Chávez’s release, Maduro helped him found the Fifth Republic Movement political party.
1999 – Maduro is elected a member of the National Constituent Assembly, the body convened to draft a new constitution.
2000 – He is elected to the National Assembly, the legislative branch of the country’s government.
2005-2006 – He serves as President of the National Assembly.
2006-2013 – He serves as Minister of Foreign Affairs.
October 12, 2012 – He is chosen by Chávez to occupy the position of vice president.
December 9, 2012 – Chavez, facing his fourth cancer surgery, backs Maduro to succeed him.
March 8, 2013 – Takes oath as interim president after Chávez’s death.
April 14, 2013 – He wins the presidential election by less than two percentage points. Maduro’s opponent, Henrique Capriles Radonski, demands a recount. On April 17, the country’s chief justice declares a manual recount unconstitutional.
April 19, 2013 – Maduro takes oath.
September 30, 2013 – Maduro announces on state television that he will expel three American diplomats. He claims they were involved in a widespread power outage earlier in the month. “Out of Venezuela,” he says, listing several names. “Yankee go home. Enough of the abuse.”
February 12, 2014 – Ongoing student protests draw global attention when three people are killed. Major social and economic problems have fueled the protests, and some blame the government for those problems.
February 20, 2014 – Venezuela revokes press credentials from CNN journalists in the country and denies them to other CNN journalists entering the country, following Maduro’s announcement that would expel CNN if he did not “rectify” his coverage of the anti-government protests, calling them war propaganda. On February 22, Venezuela once again issues press credentials for CNN journalists in the country.
February 21, 2014 – Maduro calls on US President Barack Obama to “accept the challenge” of holding direct talks with Venezuela.
January 15, 2016 – Following the release of years of economic data, Maduro declares a state of economic emergency.
May 1, 2017 – Maduro announces that he has signed an executive order that paves the way for changes to the constitution that will reshape the legislature and redefine its executive powers.
May 13, 2016 – Maduro declares a state of constitutional emergency, expanding the economic emergency he declared in January.
October 30, 2016 – Maduro participates in talks with political opponents for the first time in two years.
July 30, 2017 – Elections are held to replace the National Assembly with a new pro-Maduro legislative body called the National Constituent Assembly. In the midst of clashes between police and protesters, at least six people die. Although Maduro claims victory, opposition leaders say the vote is fraudulent.
July 31, 2017 – He US Treasury Department sanctions Maduro assets and prohibits US citizens from dealing with him. This comes a day after elections are held for a new legislative body.
January 24, 2018 – He announces that he will run for re-election.
May 20, 2018 – During an election denounced by opposition leaders and the international community, Maduro wins another six-year term. Voter turnout drops to 46%, down from a turnout rate of 80% in 2013. The next day, An alliance of 14 Latin American nations and Canada, known as the Lima Group, publishes a statement calling the vote illegitimate.
August 4, 2018 – Several drones armed with explosives fly towards Maduro in an apparent assassination attempt during a military parade. The following day, the Minister of the Interior announces that six people have been arrested in connection with the attack. Maduro is not injured.
August 5, 2018 – Interior Minister Néstor Reverol says six people have been detained following the apparent assassination attempt on Maduro.
September 8, 2018 – The New York Times reports secret meetings between US 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 criticized 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 imposes sanctions on Maduro’s wife and three other members of his inner circle in an attempt to weaken his grip on power.
September 26, 2018 – Maduro speaks at the UN General Assembly and describes the humanitarian crisis in his country as an “invention.” 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 the apparent murder attempt dies after falling from the tenth floor of a building. Intelligence officials say the death 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 to 6, with eight abstentions, not to recognize the legitimacy of Maduro’s government.
January 23, 2019 – Juan Guaido, who presides over the National Assembly, declares himself interim president amid anti-government protests. Following Guaidó’s announcement, US President Donald Trump says that the United States recognizes him as the legitimate president. Maduro accuses the United States of backing a coup attempt and gives American diplomats 72 hours to leave the country.
April 30, 2019 – During a live televised speech, Maduro claims that troops loyal to him defeated an “attempted coup” by Trump and national security adviser John Bolton. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tells CNN that Maduro had been preparing to leave the country by plane, but the Russians convinced him to stay. A Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman says Pompeo’s claim is false.
July 4, 2019 – The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights publishes a report highly critical of the Maduro regime. Based on research conducted between January 2018 and May 2019, the report “highlights patterns of violations that directly and indirectly affect all human rights.” A few days later, Maduro responded that the report contains manipulations and inaccurate data.
March 26, 2020 – The Justice Department announces narcoterrorism and other criminal charges against Maduro and senior leaders of his government. Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York, Miami and Washington, D.C., allege that the officials are leaders of the so-called Cartel of the Suns and coordinate with the Colombian rebel group FARC to traffic cocaine into the United States.
May 4, 2020 – In a live speech on state television, Maduro reports that two American “mercenaries” have been detained after a failed coup attempt to capture and remove 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, along with their Silvercorp identification cards, a security services company based in Florida. On August 8, the men are sentenced to 20 years in prison.
July 24, 2021 – During an interview with Venezuelan state television, Maduro says he is ready to begin negotiations with the Venezuelan opposition in August.
October 16, 2021 – Venezuela suspends ongoing negotiations with the opposition following Cape Verde’s extradition of Colombian businessman Alex Saab, Maduro’s alleged financier, to the United States on money laundering charges.
September 20, 2022 – TO new UN report documents crimes against humanity, including acts of torture committed by Venezuelan security forces. The report says the orders for the crimes came from Maduro and other high-level officials.