From rising revolutionary to Trump’s captive: Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro
The authoritarian leader has withstood previous attempts to oust him but has continued to preside over the collapse of the country’s economy.
John Paul Rathbone
Just a few days ago, Nicolas Maduro was dancing at rallies, lighting up Christmas trees and launching an artificial intelligence-generated music video called “Peace Forever” that showed him walking through the jungle with a robed, Jesus-like figure by his side.
By Saturday morning (Saturday evening AEDT), such efforts to project confidence in the face of mounting US pressure had seemingly come to naught. In an astonishing US military operation, the 63-year-old Venezuelan president and his wife were kidnapped by special forces during a Caracas dawn raid and flown out of the country.