Nicolás Maduro became Venezuela's president in 2013 amid a contested election and subsequent international condemnation

Maduro rose from bus driver to president and has faced ongoing challenges to his legitimacy, including sanctions, coup attempts, and human rights accusations.

• Maduro won the 2013 presidential election by fewer than two percentage points, and his opponent demanded a recount.
• In 2018, Maduro won a second term in an election that the Lima Group, a coalition of Latin American nations and Canada, called illegitimate.
• The United States imposed sanctions on Maduro in 2017 and on his wife in 2018, and in 2020 the Justice Department charged him with narco-terrorism.
• A 2022 UN report documented crimes against humanity committed by Venezuelan security forces, stating that orders came from Maduro and other senior officials.