After the capture of Nicolás Maduro in a surprise attack by the USA, one of the influential figures of the Chavista regime who attracted attention, when protesting for the release of the then dictator, was his son, Nicolás Ernesto Maduro Guerra, also known as “Nicolasito” – a nickname to differentiate him from his father – or “El Príncipe”.
Considered the political heir of the captured dictator, the 35-year-old Chavista deputy has already served in different roles within the dictatorship’s high echelons. An economist by training, he was Maduro’s security chief – a position dedicated to highly trusted people – and is currently divided between his second term as a parliamentarian and his role as director of Religious Affairs for the Socialist Party that controls the country.
“Nicolasito” is Maduro’s only biological son, the result of his first marriage to Adriana Guerra Angulo. He also faces charges in federal court in New York for crimes related to drug trafficking.
Sanctions, tourism in North Korea and the millennial face of the regime: the climb to a public career guaranteed in the shadow of his father
At the age of 23, Maduro’s heir received his first position in the Chavista dictatorship: he became head of the Presidency’s Corps of Inspectors, a position created by his father. A year later, his duties began to increase with his appointment as coordinator of the National Cinema School.
In 2017, he was chosen by the regime as a delegate for the contested elections that guaranteed Maduro a parallel Parliament in Venezuela, led by the current interim dictator Delcy Rodríguez, at the time Minister of Foreign Affairs. With this, the regime deepened the institutional chaos in the country.
In 2019, “Nicolasito” exposed on social media a trip by members of the Venezuelan Socialist Party to North Korea, which has gradually become a close ally of Caracas. On that occasion, he appeared in videos singing Bolivarian anthems alongside young activists and participated in events led by North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, according to the The Country.
The trip took place days after he was sanctioned, like his father, by Donald Trump’s first government. The Treasury Department accused him on that occasion of taking advantage of the country’s gold mines and of directly supporting censorship and propaganda actions by the Chavista regime.
In 2020, Maduro’s son launched a program named after him, called Mature War Liveused as a propaganda strategy by the regime. The content sought to make the leaders of his father’s dictatorship more popular among young people – he did interviews with the Chavista hierarchy.
In the same year, the program was suspended for a “format adjustment”, an announcement that coincided with a favorable moment for the dictator Maduro to expand his control of Parliament by electing new deputies. His son, then, became a key player in this.
History of ostentation and confusion at luxurious parties
Away from the political spotlight, Maduro’s heir has a controversial history, marked by luxurious parties and ostentation.
One of the striking cases involves an alleged birthday celebration, in 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic, when neighbors called the police to report crowds in a high-end condominium in eastern Caracas amid a strict quarantine imposed by the regime that prevented social gatherings.
According to the newspaper The Countryit was unclear whether the event was related to Maduro’s son. However, a police commissioner who responded to the call and was arrested wrote on social media – a post that was soon deleted – that it was not possible to do anything for the complainants, as the Casa Militar was in charge of guarding the place that day.
In an older episode, from 2015, Maduro’s son appears in a video sporting several banknotes at a wedding, throwing them into the air while being filmed. Two years later, a woman was arrested for photographing the Chavismo heir at a party in the state of Maracaibo.
