Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has developed a knack for succeeding against the odds, with few predicting his rise to the presidency nor his continued ability to remain in power.
The son of a political activist from a traditional Venezuelan party, Maduro joined the Socialist League as a student and began working as a bus driver for the Caracas Metro.
He then became a union leader before entering the National Assembly when his political mentor Hugo Chávez was elected president in 1999.
Maduro rose through the ranks of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), serving as foreign minister and vice president during Chávez’ time in office.
He was one of a raft of potential candidates to take over the presidency as Chávez’ health declined following a cancer diagnosis, but Chávez moved to tamp down internal disputes and picked him as his successor in December 2012.
Since taking over the top job in 2013, Maduro has faced mockery of his eccentric public pronouncements and criticism of his electoral system, as well as a succession of protests, sanctions, arrest warrants, possible rebellions and international isolation.
Nonetheless, he has been able to head off crises despite mounting international criticism of his government and the fact that millions of Venezuelans have fled the country amid deepening poverty and political repression.
Excessive force, arbitrary detentions of protesters and opposition leaders, sexual violence, torture and extrajudicial executions are all part of Maduro’s toolkit for managing dissent, according to UN reports.
Now, however, Maduro appears to be facing his toughest moment yet, with President Donald Trump ratcheting up the pressure on his government and opposition leader María Corina Machado, who was named this year’s winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, attempting to drum up international support for a change in government.
