Presidency of Nicolás Maduro

Beginning six months after being elected, Maduro has ruled by decree for the majority of his presidency: from 19 November 2013 to 19 November 2014,[5] 15 March 2015 to 31 December 2015, 15 January 2016 to present.[6]

State Ministries:

President Maduro among troops during a May 2016 exercise.

Maduro has relied on the military to maintain power since he was initially elected into office.[41] According to Luis Manuel Esculpi, a Venezuelan security analyst, "The army is Maduro's only source of authority."[41] As time passed, Maduro grew more reliant on the military, showing that Maduro was losing power as described by Amherst College professor, Javier Corrales.[42] Corrales explains that "From 2003 until Chavez died in 2013, the civilian wing was strong, so he did not have to fall back on the military. As civilians withdrew their support, Maduro was forced to resort to military force."[42] The New York Times states that Maduro no longer has the oil revenue to buy loyalty for protection, instead relying on favorable exchange rates, as well as the smuggling of food and drugs, which "also generate revenue".[43]

On 12 July 2016, Maduro granted Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López the power to oversee product transportation, price controls, the Bolivarian missions, while also having his military command five of Venezuela's main ports.[44][45][46] This action performed by President Maduro made General Padrino one of the most powerful people in Venezuela, possibly "the second most powerful man in Venezuelan politics".[45][47] The appointment of Padrino was also seen to be similar to the Cuban government's tactic of granting the Cuban military the power to manage Cuba's economy.[45] It is the first time since the dictatorship of General Marcos Perez Jimenez in 1958 that a military official has held such power in Venezuela.[46] According to Corrales, "For all of the ministers of the cabinet to have to respond to a soldier, this is associated with military dictatorships".[41]

According to Nicolás Maduro:[45]

All ministries and government institutions are subordinated to the National Command of the Great Mission for Safe Sovereign and Safe Supply, which is under the command of the President and of the top General, Vladimir Padrino López.

UNASUR special meeting to discuss the diversion of Bolivian President Evo Morales' plane in Europe, 4 July 2013

Maduro denies that Venezuela has been facing a humanitarian crisis.[48] Maduro stuck to his predecessor Hugo Chávez's policies in order to remain popular to those who find a connection between the two. Despite the increasingly difficult crises facing Venezuela, such as a faltering economy and high crime rate, Maduro continued the use of Chávez's policies.[49]

After continuing Chávez's policies, Maduro's support among Venezuelans began to decrease, with Bloomberg explaining that he held on to power by placing opponents in jail and impeding upon Venezuela's freedom of press.[50] According to Marsh, instead of making any policy changes, Maduro placed attention on his "hold on power by closing off the legal channels through which the opposition can act".[51] Shannon K. O'Neil of the Council on Foreign Relations stated that "After Chavez's death, Maduro has just continued and accelerated the authoritarian and totalitarian policies of Chavez".[52]

The rally against Maduro's government in October 2016

The rally in support of Maduro's government in December 2016

Regarding Maduro's ideology, Professor Ramón Piñango, a sociologist from the Venezuelan University of IESA, "Maduro has a very strong ideological orientation, close to the Communist ideology. Contrary to Diosdado, he is not very pragmatic".[53] Maduro himself has stated that Venezuela must build a more socialist nation, highlighting that the country needs an economic overhaul, a political-military union and government involvement in the workplace.[54]

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff receiving a photograph of Hugo Chávez from Maduro, 9 May 2013

Maduro with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in Tehran, Iran, November 2015

Maduro meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, 26 September 2016

Maduro has accused the United States of intervention in Venezuela several times with his allegations ranging from post-election violence by "neo-Nazi groups", economic difficulties from what he called an "economic war" and various coup plots.[83][84] The United States has denied such accusations[84] while analysts have called such allegations by Maduro as a way to distract Venezuelans from their problems.[85]

In early 2015 the Obama administration signed an executive order which imposed targeted sanctions on seven Venezuelan officials whom the White House argued were instrumental in human rights violations, persecution of political opponents and significant public corruption and said that the country posed an "unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States".[86] Maduro responded to the sanctions in a couple of ways. He wrote an open letter in a full page ad in The New York Times in March 2015, stating that Venezuelans were "friends of the American people" and called President Obama's action of making targeted sanctions on the alleged human rights abusers a "unilateral and aggressive measure".[87][88] Examples of accusations of human rights abuses from the United States to Maduro's government included the murder of a political activist prior to legislative elections in Venezuela.[89] Maduro threatened to sue the United States over an executive order issued by the Obama Administration that declared Venezuela to be a threat to American security.[90] He also planned to deliver 10 million signatures, or signatures from about 1/3 of Venezuela's population, denouncing the United States' decree declaring the situation in Venezuela an "extraordinary threat to US national security".[91][92] and ordered all schools in the country to hold an "anti-imperialist day" against the United States with the day's activities including the "collection of the signatures of the students, and teaching, administrative, maintenance and cooking personnel".[92] Maduro further ordered state workers to apply their signatures in protest, with some workers reporting that firings of state workers occurred due to their rejection of signing the executive order protesting the "Obama decree".[92][93][94][95][96][97] There were also reports that members of Venezuelan armed forces and their families were ordered to sign against the United States decree.[92]

On 6 April 2015, twenty-five (25) ex-presidents issued a Declaración de Panamá,[98] a statement denouncing the VII Cumbre de las Américas, what they called "democratic alteration" in Venezuela, promoted by the government of Nicolas Maduro. The statement calls for the immediate release of "political prisoners" in Venezuela. Among the former heads of government that have called for improvements in Venezuela are: Jorge Quiroga (Bolivia); Sebastián Piñera (Chile): Andrés Pastrana, Álvaro Uribe and Belisario Betancur (Colombia); Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia, Laura Chinchilla, Óscar Arias, Luis Alberto Monge (Costa Rica), Osvaldo Hurtado (Ecuador); Alfredo Cristiani and Armando Calderón (EL Salvador); José María Aznar (Spain); Felipe Calderón and Vicente Fox (México), Mireya Moscoso (Panamá), Alejandro Toledo (Perú) and Luis Alberto Lacalle (Uruguay).[99]

Maduro has reached out to China for economic assistance while China has funneled billions of dollars from multiple loans into Venezuela.[100] China is Venezuela's second largest trade partner with two-thirds of Venezuelan exports to China composed of oil.[100] According to Mark Jones, a Latin American expert of the Baker Institute, China was "investing for strategic reasons" rather than ideological similarities.[100] The Venezuelan military has also used military equipment from China using the NORINCO VN-4 armoured vehicle against protesters during the 2014–15 Venezuelan protests, ordering hundreds more as a result of the demonstrations.[101][102]

At the 17th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in 2016, hosted by Venezuela at Margarita Island, Maduro was elected chairperson by acclamation, a position that he is to hold until the 18th Summit in Azerbaijan in 2019.[103] Maduro's administration spent over US$120 million on the event,[104] and Maduro billed it as a meeting that would "be remembered for centuries"; according to Al Jazeera, the "delegates who did come complained privately of a lack of organisation, delays and shabby hotels".[105] The Maduro administration did not respond to a request from Al Jazeera for a list of delegations present;[105] of the 120 NAM member states, media sources estimated between 10[106] and 15[107] heads of state attended, including Bolivia,[105] Cuba, Ecuador, Palestine, Iran, Syria and Zimbabwe.[106] For only the second time since NAM was founded, India did not attend;[106] of the countries that did attend, many are recipients of Venezuelan oil subsidies, according to Foreign Policy and Fox News.[106][108]

In the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Maduro has frequently supported the Palestinian cause in international forums including his stance that his country recognizes Jerusalem as the eternal capital of Palestine after the US embassy move to Jerusalem which he called an "extremist decision" that lacks legal validity and violates international law.[109][110][111][112] In January 2019, Maduro reaffirms the unconditional support for the struggle of the Palestinians in defense of their sovereignty in accordance with the principles of the Charter of the United Nations and international law.[113]

In December 2017, Maduro was invited as the special honorary guest at the Extraordinary Summit of the OIC (Organisation of Islamic Cooperation) in Istanbul, Turkey with the main issue being to unify the response of the Muslim world to the US embassy move to Jerusalem, which Maduro called a "colonial act."[114][115]

On 11 August 2017, President Donald Trump said that he is “not going to rule out a military option” to confront the government of Nicolás Maduro.[116] On 23 January 2019, Maduro announced that Venezuela was breaking ties with the United States following President Trump's announcement of recognizing Juan Guaidó, the Venezuelan opposition leader, as the interim President of Venezuela.[117]

On 14 January 2019, days after Brazil recognised Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó as the country's interim president, Maduro called Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro “a Hitler of the modern era”.[118]

Since 2014, a series of protests, political demonstrations, and civil insurrection began in Venezuela due to the country's high levels of violence, inflation, and chronic shortages of basic goods[119][120] attributed to economic policies such as strict price controls.[58][121] Maduro's government saw the protests as an undemocratic coup d'etat attempt[122] orchestrated by "fascist opposition leaders and the United States".[123]

Although Maduro, a former trade union leader, says he supports peaceful protesting,[125] the Venezuelan government has been widely condemned for its handling of the protests. Venezuelan authorities have reportedly gone beyond the use of rubber pellets and tear gas to instances of live ammunition use and torture of arrested protestors, according to organizations like Amnesty International[126] and Human Rights Watch,[127] while the United Nations[128][129][130] has accused the Venezuelan government of politically-motivated arrests, most notably former Chacao mayor and leader of Popular Will, Leopoldo Lopez, who has used the controversial charges of murder and inciting violence against him to protest the government's "criminalization of dissent."[131][132][133]

Protests dwindled through 2015 and into 2016, though a movement to recall Maduro rekindled anti-government sentiment among Venezuelans, culminating with over one million protesting nationwide on September 1, 2016.[134][135] Protests since then have continued, especially due to controversies surrounding the recall movement and the continued socioeconomic hardships Venezuelans face on a daily basis.

The process to hold a recall referendum to vote on recalling Maduro was started on May 2, 2016. On that date, opposition leaders in Venezuela handed in a petition to the National Electoral Council (CNE) that started a several stage process.[136] As of July 2016, the Venezuelan government had stated that if enough signatures were collected, a recall vote would be held no sooner than 2017.[137]

The blue line represents percentage that favor recalling President Maduro. The red line represents percentage that do not wish to recall President Maduro. Unfilled dots represent individual results of the polls. Most polls have been discontinued due to the suspension of the recall movement.

On 3 May 2020 Venezuelan security forces prevented an attempt to overthrow Maduro by armed deserters from Venezuela’s security forces. The attempt, named Operation Gideon, was organised by former United States Army Special Forces operator Jordan Goudreau and the men were trained in Colombia. Goudreau claimed the operation had involved 60 troops, including two former US special forces members.[149][150] The Venezuelan government claimed the United States and its Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) were responsible for the operation and had support from Colombia.[151] Juan Guaidó denied involvement in the operation, however, Goudreau claimed that Guaidó and two political advisers had signed a contract with him for $213 million in October 2019.[150]

• 2004 Venezuelan recall referendum
• Venezuelan protests (2014-present)