From Bus Driver to Controversial Leader: The Complex Journey of Nicolas Maduro Amidst Narco-Terrorism Accusations

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Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is leading his country at a tense time, amid global pressures and an ever-emboldened United States President Donald Trump, who appears intent on undermining Maduro’s authority.

There had been speculation that Maduro had fled the country and sought amnesty from the US, but he has since dispelled those rumours.

In addressing a crowd in Venezuela’s capital this week, Maduro said he’s not going anywhere.

“I pledge to you my unwavering loyalty, even beyond the point where we experience this inspiring and courageous chapter of history,” he declared on Monday.

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This statement comes after the US conducted at least 21 operations targeting suspected drug trafficking vessels in the Caribbean and Pacific since September, resulting in the deaths of at least 83 individuals.

Now serving his third term, Maduro faces accusations of electoral fraud, stifling dissent, and committing human rights violations.

Maduro, who began his career as a bus driver and became a trade union leader, has been Venezuela’s president since 2013 and was declared the winner of last year’s July election.

But international election monitors have raised serious questions about reports of voter intimidation and a lack of transparency over how the votes were ultimately tallied.

Maduro’s rise from politician to president followed the death of former leader Hugo Chavez, who chose Maduro as his successor.

Maduro is a follower of ‘chavismo’, the socialist-populist political ideology initiated by Chavez.

In his Monday address, Maduro referred to Chavez, saying: “Be sure that just as I swore before the body of our commander Chavez before saying goodbye to him, absolute loyalty at the cost of my own life and tranquillity.”

This year, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado received the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of her relentless efforts to advocate for democratic rights in Venezuela.

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize this year, for “her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela”.

Alleged narco-terrorism and a possible invasion

In recent months, the US has been putting pressure on Venezuela and Maduro.

There have been repeated threats by Trump to extend military operations to land, and the designation of Cartel de los Soles, a group the Trump administration says includes Maduro, as a foreign terrorist organisation.

The name, which translates to Cartel of the Suns, is a reference to the sun insignia worn by Venezuelan generals.

InSight Crime, a foundation that analyses organised crime, said in August that it was an “oversimplification” to say Maduro heads the cartel.

“[It] is more accurately described as a system of corruption wherein military and political officials profit by working with drug traffickers,” it said.

Will Freeman, a fellow for Latin American studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, said it was “very likely” Maduro was at least aware of some military complicity with cocaine traffickers.

Accusations that the Venezuelan government has supported and facilitated drug trafficking efforts into the US have been central to the Trump administration’s rhetoric and have fuelled the months-long campaign of US strikes on boats off the coast of Venezuela.

US attorney general Pam Bondi said the US is now offering a US$50 million ($76.3 million) reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest.

“He is one of the largest narcotraffickers in the world and a threat to our national security,” she said.

“Under President Trump’s leadership, Maduro will not escape justice and he will be held accountable for his despicable crimes.”

Trump has sent a large deployment of US military to the region, including an aircraft carrier group, with a stated mission of tackling transnational crime and drug trafficking.

The US has named its mission in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean Operation Southern Spear and has deployed the USS Gerald R Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier.

In an open letter, European politicians, including the former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and Greece’s former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, warned “the imminent threat of US military intervention in Venezuela”.

“If the US launches a military intervention in Venezuela, it would mark the first interstate war by the United States in South America,” the group wrote in November, noting how past US military operations in Latin America had “delivered not security but a torrent of bloodshed, dispossession, and destabilisation”.

Maduro remains resolute

Maduro has labelled the Trump administration’s recent actions as gunboat diplomacy.

“Our diplomacy is not gunboat diplomacy, of threats. Because the world cannot be the world of 100 years ago again,” he said.

“The gunboat diplomacy: I have so many cannons, so many ships, and I put them in front of you and you surrender or do what I feel like making you do. No, that’s over.”

While the US continues its campaign against Maduro, the Venezuelan president said he is not going anywhere and remains committed to leading the country and continuing Chavez’s legacy.

“Be sure that I will never fail you, never, ever, never.”

— With additional reporting by the Reuters News Agency

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From Bus Driver to Controversial Leader: The Complex Journey of Nicolas Maduro Amidst Narco-Terrorism Accusations

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