_WHAT’S HAPPENING_
On Saturday, US forces captured socialist Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in a military operation and flew him to New York to face federal narcotrafficking charges. In response, Venezuelans across the globe erupted in celebration, while many inside the country face fear and uncertainty as the regime remains in power under Vice President Delcy Rodríguez.
How did Venezuela get to this point? It began last century, when, inspired by the 19th-century independence leader Simón Bolívar, Hugo Chávez formed the leftist Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement-200 within Venezuela’s military, gaining prominence through a failed 1992 coup attempt aimed at overthrowing the government.
The socialist revolutionary then ran for president on an anti-establishment platform in 1998, launching a "Bolivarian Revolution" that promised to end corruption and transform the oil-rich nation into a socialist state.
After Chávez died in 2013, his handpicked successor — Nicolás Maduro — presided over an economic collapse that drove around 8 million Venezuelans from their homeland.
Insider Analysis Locked
Every daily article includes insider analysis you won’t find anywhere else—sharp, uncensored, and ahead of the curve.
See insights for this story