The bus driver who won Chávez's favor

BogotáOn the night of December 24, Maduro ate the last hallacas Homemade, a traditional Venezuelan Christmas dish. Nicolás Maduro, according to White House sources and Donald Trump himself, will not set foot in Miraflores Palace again and will sit in the dock—in a US court—to answer the accusations leveled against him for drug trafficking. This week, the now-deposed president, speaking from the presidential complex in an interview with Venezuelan state television, described his last conversation with his Washington counterpart: "I think the conversation was pleasant, but the events following the conversation have not been pleasant." A path of almost 14 years that, with Trump's arrival, has accelerated the Venezuelan leader's downfall. to fall into the hands of an alleged Pentagon surgical operation

It's not entirely clear where Nicolás Maduro's story begins: some say he was born across the border in Colombia, but his official biography claims it was in Caracas, into a middle-class family. He began his political career as a teenager in the Socialist League and later worked as a public transport driver in Caracas. There, he became involved in union squabbles, embraced leftist ideology, and participated in marches against the governments of the time. One of his most notable contributions was helping his ideological mentor, Hugo Chávez, orchestrate a coup d'état—which ultimately failed—thanks to his knowledge of the Caracas metro tunnels.

Maduro, who never went to jail, was already trying to gain influence—in the late 1990s—with the upper echelons of the Chavista movement and was eager to be photographed with Hugo Chávez. Despite failing to gain significant influence within Chavista circles, in 1998—with Chávez's rise to power—Maduro began his career as a member of parliament and contributed to building the party and state infrastructure that would follow.

Loyal to his boss, with a serious demeanor and measured words, he was not wanted near the then-Venezuelan president. In fact, he wasn't even allowed to personally congratulate Hugo Chávez when he won the 1998 elections. But as a party man and a tireless advocate from the grassroots level, serving on dozens of committees, he rose through the ranks until being appointed president of the National Assembly in 2005. As Minister of Foreign Affairs a year later, he established the framework of current Venezuelan foreign policy with a clear map: China and Russia were the main allies; Israel and the United States, the enemies.

Iron President

Nicolás Maduro, appointed vice president in 2012, was poised to succeed Hugo Chávez when he was diagnosed with cancer. In the shadow of the then-Venezuelan president, who was undergoing treatment in Cuba, was a technocrat, usually in the background, but with a rising profile. A year later, as the streets mourned the death of their president, Chavismo designated him as the provisional successor. Months later, as a presidential candidate, he was elected president by a margin that remains a subject of debate for his opponent, Henrique Capriles, and he developed a penchant for governing by decree under an omnipresent portrait of Commander Chávez.

The first wave of protests came in 2014: months of repression, arrests, and deaths. His presidency has been marked by economic crisis, a dramatic drop in oil production, and hyperinflation that has perpetuated shortages of basic goods. Therefore, the mass migration of millions of Venezuelans to other countries has been a reality for over a decade under his rule.

As for the political opposition: prison or exile. Prominent figures like Leopoldo López, Juan Guaidó, and María Corina Machado have all left the country, although the latter did so to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in Stockholm. The latest opposition leader—appointed by Machado—Edmundo González, attempted to oust him from power through election results that have still not been officially released. This further eroded Maduro's already meager legitimacy worldwide.

That is why Nicolás Maduro Moro, this Christmas, asked Trump for "peace" or "no to war" for the umpteenth time. But the US president's response was brief: the next chapter for Maduro will unfold in the courts.