Venezuela, together with Hugo Chavez, has been implementing the ideas of the Bolivarian Revolution for many years. The current president, Nicolas Maduro, is currently leading the process. As a "legacy" from the previous government, he received a lot of problems. His rule cannot be called easy - what are the protests in Venezuela in 2014-2017, when the opposition continually tried to remove the legitimate rulers. But first things first.
Short biography of Maduro
Nicolas Maduro was born in 1962 in the capital of Venezuela. On his paternal side, his grandparents were Jews who converted to Catholicism. Little is known about the childhood of the future president of Venezuela. Already in the seventies, he became one of the leaders of the student movement and the trade union (unofficial), representing the construction workers of the subway. Later, the young man graduated from high school and high school. Nicolas Maduro is consideredone of the founders of the Fifth Movement for the Republic, he played a significant role in the release of Hugo Chavez.
Meet Hugo Chavez
In 1994, Chavez was imprisoned for a failed military coup in the country two years earlier. As an active supporter of the revolution and a trade union worker, it was Maduro who played an important role in the release of the leader. Since then, he has become close to the leader: he was a member of the leadership of the Bolivarian revolutionary headquarters.
Hugo Chavez began his election campaign with a promise to carry out large-scale reforms in the political sphere, change the name of the state, begin activities to eliminate significant property stratification in society, initiate the fight against poverty and illiteracy of the population. Not only before taking office, but also at the beginning of his reign, he was actively opposed by the we althy strata of society and private media, which accounted for 90% of the total number of newspapers, magazines, television and radio channels.
All this time, the future President of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, was the right hand of the national leader.
Political career
Maduro's political career began as a student. But the biography of Nicolas Maduro began to develop especially rapidly after he met Hugo Chavez and the latter came to power. He was elected to the National Assembly, the Chamber of Deputies and the Constitutional Assembly. Despite the fact that Nicolas Maduro never received a higher education, he became the Speaker of Parliament and distinguished himself in this post. Later under his leadershipa new Venezuelan Labor Code was being drafted, which came into force in 2012.
Separately, we can highlight the activities of Maduro as Minister of Foreign Affairs. He led an anti-American course. The following case is known, which further strengthened the anti-American position of the politician: in 2006, Maduro was detained at an international airport in the United States when he tried to pay for three air tickets in cash. He was taken to the security room, where he was kept for an hour and a half. This event caused a political scandal between Venezuela and the United States, since such actions against a Foreign Ministry employee of a foreign state are considered a gross violation of diplomacy.
As for relations with Russia, they began to actively develop in a positive way immediately after Chavez came to power. Maduro, as head of the Foreign Ministry, participated in diplomatic meetings, oversaw contacts and the fields of energy and weapons, initiated cultural and economic cooperation between the Russian Federation and Venezuela.
Presidential elections
The next presidential election was held in Venezuela in early April 2013, but less than a month later, Hugo Chavez, who won, died. Back in 2012, when the president was leaving for Cuba to undergo treatment for cancer, he ordered that in the event of his death, he wanted to see Nicolas Maduro as his successor. It was he who won the election, receiving 50.61% of the votes of citizens.
First steps on duty
From Hugo Chavez, in the last years of his reign, suffering from cancer, Maduro received a lot of problems: firstly,huge external debt, and secondly, the budget deficit. In October 2013, the 49th President of Venezuela asked the government to give him expanded powers to better fight corruption and the economic crisis that threatens Venezuela. He had enough votes of deputies to get more opportunities in office.
By order of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, employees and owners of chains of stores that sold electrical household goods were soon arrested. All products were sold at a price of 10% of the original cost. For refusing to demand a price reduction, the Daka trading network was nationalized. Reason: the owners sold goods with a markup of 1000% or more, when it was permissible to add only 30%. Despite such aggressive measures, the problem of inflation could not be quickly resolved.
The level of crime in the country also remained high, which later became one of the reasons for the mass protests of the population.
Mass protests
Demonstrations began with a demand for sufficient security, to overcome the economic crisis, which, according to the population, was caused precisely by the recent actions of the government. Some of the participants in these demonstrations were immediately detained, which caused a new surge of popular discontent. Nicolas Maduro then spoke on television calling for calm, in addition, he announced that a coup d'état was being prepared against him, and called on his supporters to march through the streets of the capital for peace.
The President sought to find a common language with the population: he began to go live on the radio as part of the "In Contact with Maduro" program. The leader believed that this would allow him to quickly respond to problems and give live commentary on the current political and economic situation.
In the following 2014-2015, the country's economic situation worsened again. Protests broke out with renewed vigor. Following the results of the 2015 elections, most of the seats in parliament were won by opponents of the current president. The situation worsened more and more.
Crisis of relations with Colombia
In 2015, a diplomatic and economic crisis erupted between the governments of Venezuela and Colombia. The reason: the alleged presence of paramilitary groups on the territory of Venezuela, whose task would be the subsequent declaration of a state of emergency in a number of settlements and the closure of the border between countries for an indefinite period. Nevertheless, a state of emergency was declared, Colombians were forced to deport, diplomatic relations between the countries were severed. The consequences of the crisis were the zoning of territories and the humanitarian crisis.
Suspension attempt
The opposition accused the incumbent of attempting a coup in 2016. The National Assembly later voted to impeach the head of state and open a criminal case against him on charges of disrupting the referendum. Nicolas Maduro then met with the Pope and asked for help, after which the procedure was suspended. After a couplemonths, the government again attempted to remove the president from office, but the Supreme Court said that parliament could not impeach the president.
Nicolas Maduro Family
Maduro's wife, Celia Flores, is 10 years older than him. She was Hugo Chávez's lawyer and later succeeded her husband as speaker. The president has a son - also Nicolas Maduro, a politician.
