Nicolas Maduro believes that his predecessor and political father, the late Hugo Chavez, appeared before him in the form of a small bird and a butterfly. He also thinks that celebrating Christmas two months early – by presidential decree – helps “lift the spirits of Venezuelans.”
He confuses “gremlin” with “grinch,” invents words in Spanish, and often makes one linguistic slip after another. The decisions and statements of Venezuela’s president can be so eccentric that many Venezuelans and Latin Americans have a name for them: “maduradas.”
He has, however, proven for years that underestimating him can be a mistake for his critics.
Maduro greets the people after a vote on April 14, 2013, in Caracas, Venezuela. Maduro greets the people after a vote on April 14, 2013, in Caracas, Venezuela. Gregorio Marrero/LatinContent/Getty Images Mockery of Maduro existed even before he took office as president of Venezuela in 2013, when he was just one among several potential successors to the cancer-stricken leader, despite having served as foreign minister and vice president. Maduro received only minority support from followers of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), and his circle, according to reports, was in strong tension with supporters of the influential Diosdado Cabello, then president of the National Assembly, for being the chosen one in a country dominated by uncertainty.
But, overwhelmed by illness, at the beginning of December 2012, Chavez put an end to internal disputes and unequivocally blessed Maduro to lead chavismo and Venezuela. The “son of Chavez” then inaugurated a government in which, year after year, he defied criticism of his electoral system, protests, sanctions, arrest warrants, possible rebellions, international isolation, and speculation about his future. жесткое русское порно