Nicolás Maduro: Difference between revisions

{{Important}}

{{Villain_Infobox

|fullname = Nicolás Maduro Moros

|origin = Caracas, Venezuela

{{quote|Like you, people of the United States, we Venezuelans are patriots. And we shall defend our homeland with all the pieces of our soul. Today Venezuela is united... we demand the cessation of the aggression that seeks to suffocate our economy and socially suffocate our people, as well as the cessation of the serious and dangerous threats of military intervention... We appeal to the good soul of the American society, victim of its own leaders, to join our call for peace, let us be all one people against warmongering and war.|Maduro in an open letter to the American people.}}

Beginning his working life as a bus driver, Maduro rose to become a trade union leader before being elected to the National Assembly in 2000. He was appointed to a number of positions under President [[Hugo Chávez]] and was described in 2012 by the ''Wall Street Journal'' as the "most capable administrator and politician of Chávez's inner circle". He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2006 to 2013 and as Vice President of Venezuela from 2012 to 2013 under Chávez. After Chávez's death was announced on March 5^th, 2013, Maduro assumed the presidential powers and responsibilities. A special presidential election was held in 2013, which Maduro won with 50.62% of the vote as the [[United Socialist Party of Venezuela]] candidate. He has ruled Venezuela by decree since 19 November 2013 through powers granted to him by the pre-2015 Venezuela legislature.

==Background==

===Overview===

Shortages in Venezuela and decreased living standards led to protests beginning in 2014 that escalated into daily marches nationwide, repression of dissent, and a decline in Maduro's popularity. According to ''The New York Times'', Maduro's administration was held "responsible for grossly mismanaging the economy and plunging the country into a deep humanitarian crisis" and attempting to "crush the opposition by jailing or exiling critics, and using lethal force against anti-government protesters". An opposition-led National Assembly was elected in 2015 and a movement toward recalling Maduro began in 2016; Maduro maintained power through the Supreme Tribunal, the National Electoral Council, and the military. The Supreme Tribunal removed power from the elected National Assembly, resulting in a constitutional crisis and protests in 2017. Maduro called for a rewrite of the constitution, and the Constituent Assembly of Venezuela was elected in 2017, under what many—including Venezuela's chief prosecutor Luisa Ortega and Smartmatic, the company that ran the voting machines—considered irregular voting conditions; the majority of its members were pro-Maduro. On 20 May 2018, presidential elections were called prematurely; opposition leaders had been jailed, exiled, or forbidden to run, there was no international observation, and tactics to suggest voters could lose their jobs or social welfare if they did not vote for Maduro were used. The majority of nations in the Western world did not recognize the Constituent Assembly election or the validity of Maduro's 2018 reelection; the Canadian, Panamanian, and the United States governments sanctioned Maduro.

===Human rights abuses===

In 2015, opposition parties in favor of democracy flatly defeated the Maduro regime in the legislative elections. Shortly after, Maduro began dismantling several branches of government. The outgoing President of the National Assembly, Diosdado Cabello, hastened to fill the country's courts with unskilled fans of the party to serve as guarantors of Maduro's power.

===Constitutional crisis===

On January 11, 2016, when the National Assembly proceeded to place three legitimately elected deputies, the Supreme Court declared the National Assembly in contempt, voiding all subsequent legislation passed by this democratically elected body. Since then, Maduro has deliberately marginalized this constitutionally legitimate Assembly.

This false electoral system culminated in the presidential elections of May 20, 2018. With most of the opposition figures arrested, exiled or with the prohibition of running for elections, Maduro faced a field of weakened candidates in a rigged election. To boost pro-Maduro participation, the regime bribed controls with food and other subsidies that desperately needed a change in their votes.

On January 10, 2019, Maduro illegally assumed the presidency in an illegitimate ceremony by many Venezuelans and more than 50 countries, including most of Venezuela's neighbors and the majority of the European Union.

===Corruption===

Maduro's most serious corruption plan consisted of the embezzlement of the state oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (PdVSA). In 2015, the Financial Crime Control Network (FinCEN) of the US Department of the Treasury issued a ruling under Section 311 of the US PATRIOT Act. (USA PATRIOT Act). A European bank accepted exorbitant commissions to process approximately US $ 2 billion in transactions related to third-party money launderers, fictitious companies and complex financial products to divert funds from PDVSA.

In 2017, after a seven-month investigation, the National Assembly of Venezuela discovered cases in which the regime “spent” US $ 42 for a food box, which it then distributed in exchange for votes, at a time when those foods cost less than US $ 13. Maduro's internal circle kept the difference, which amounted to more than US $ 200 million in at least one case.

Venezuela ranks 169th out of 180 countries in the 2017 Corruption Perception Index of Transparency International.

===Recent developments===

The regime has deployed the National Guard and civilian militias known as collectives to repress peaceful protesters. According to the National Assembly, the previous regime is responsible for at least 40 deaths related to the protest so far this year.

On April 4, 2019, the police raided the house of the National Assembly deputy, Roberto Alcalá, in an effort to prosecute him for fabricated terrorism charges.

[[Category:Modern Villains]]

[[Category:Political]]

[[Category:Hypocrites]]

[[Category:Oppressors]]

[[Category:Delusional]]

[[Category:Lawful Evil]]

[[Category:Warlords]]

[[Category:Misopedists]]

[[Category:Psychological Abusers]]

[[Category:Anti-Catholic]]

[[Category:Anti-Christian]]

[[Category:Islamophobes]]

[[Category:Anti-Religious]]

[[Category:Irony]]

[[Category:Embezzlers]]

[[Category:Partners in Crime]]

[[Category:Slaver]]

[[Category:Cowards]]