Venezuelan Congress to investigate death toll from US ship collision
Venezuela’s Congress will create a special committee to investigate U.S. President Donald Trump’s deadly attacks on suspected drug-trafficking vessels off the Venezuelan coast and in the eastern Pacific Ocean, the president of the congress announced on November 30.
The Trump administration continues to escalate its threats against the South American country and its president, accusing its government of drug trafficking and terrorism after bipartisan lawmakers announced an investigation into a military attack on a suspected drug smuggling boat in Venezuela.
Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro publicly disputed the Trump administration’s claims.
Since September, the U.S. military has attacked nearly 20 ships in international waters, killing 83 people. President Donald Trump said the airstrikes were aimed at stopping domestic human traffickers in addition to reported drug smugglers.
Following reports that the military attacked a ship in the Caribbean on September 2, U.S. lawmakers are considering how the administration’s actions might reflect on the situation. The attack killed two survivors clinging to the boat’s wreckage.
So who is Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro? Here’s what you need to know about this politician under surveillance by the US government.
Who is Nicolas Maduro?
Nicolas Maduro, 63, is the president of Venezuela and has led the oil-rich country since 2013. He was born in Caracas, the country’s capital.
He married Cilia Flores in 2013, and they were often photographed together at political events.
Maduro has a 35-year-old son, Nicolas Maduro (Junior) Guerra, with his first wife Adriana Guerra Angulo.
Maduro heads the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, a left-wing political group seen by some as undemocratic.
Even though Mr. Maduro remains in power, Venezuelan opposition leaders, as well as people around the world, insist that Mr. Maduro has lost the 2024 presidential election.
Nicolas Maduro’s rise to power
Maduro worked as a bodyguard and bus driver in the 1980s, according to a previous report by USA TODAY. He also belonged to the Caracas Metro System Transit Union.
He is the hand-picked successor to former socialist leader Hugo Chávez, who died of cancer in 2013.
Maduro’s relationship with the late Chavez began in the 1990s, when the current president helped secure the release of Chavez from prison for his anti-government activities, including reporting on a coup aimed at ousting then-president Carlos Andrés Perez.
Maduro later gained a place in Chavez’s inner circle by supporting Chavez’s 1998 presidential campaign and “promising to give poor Venezuelans a larger share of the economic pie controlled by the country’s wealthy ruling elite.”
Before becoming the country’s top leader, he served as the country’s foreign minister and vice president.
When was Nicolas Madaro reelected?
President Maduro has served as president for three terms.
In July 2024, the country’s government-controlled electoral commission declared that Mr. Maduro had won the election and retained his seat.
Although the government opposition claimed that candidate Edmundo Gonzalez won the election, Venezuela’s Supreme Court upheld Maduro on August 22.
What is Nicolas Maduro being accused of?
Mr. Trump himself has claimed that President Maduro is involved in trafficking illegal drugs into the United States as head of the Cartel de los Soles, which the US State Department has designated as a foreign terrorist organization.
President Trump issued a warning over the weekend to avoid flying over Venezuela. President Trump has already hinted at a ground attack into the country, after telling the US military on Thanksgiving that military operations would soon include a ground attack.
President Trump’s attack came in the wake of the indictment in 2020 of President Maduro and his top officials for their alleged involvement in a drug-trafficking conspiracy.
Venezuela’s president has denied any links to the illegal drug trade, a move that led to protests in Caracas last month.
In a statement over the weekend, The Venezuelan government condemned Trump’s comments, calling them a “colonialist threat” to the South American country’s sovereignty and a violation of international law.
A government statement said Trump’s post “represents a hostile, unilateral and arbitrary act inconsistent with the principles of international law.”
The United States already has aircraft carriers, guided missile destroyers, and special operations ships near Venezuela. About 12,000 troops are stationed in the area, USA TODAY reported earlier this week.
The White House told USA TODAY on October 27 that the administration’s policy is “maximum pressure” on the Maduro regime, and that “there are no negotiations that could benefit the regime.”
Contributors: Eduardo Cueva and Phillip M. Bailey, USA TODAY
Natalie Neisa Alland is a senior reporter at USA TODAY. Contact her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her at X @nataliealund
