Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro on Monday vowed to swiftly complete his country’s “strongest, most just” recovery in an address to his nation broadcast on state television. The 58-year-old socialist leader was re-elected as president in May 2017 in what his opponents called a sham election. But Maduro has been increasingly isolated in his fight against a heavy economic crisis.
Here are some key facts about the president:
Age: Maduro is 58. He was born the third child of a wealthy dairy family in the central city of Caracas, the capital of Venezuela.
Education: Maduro began his studies in law in the early 1980s at the University of the Andes in Caracas. He received a doctorate in law from the University of Paris Metz in 1987. He then returned to Caracas and worked in the civil and commercial department of the ministry of the economy.
Political career: Maduro became mayor of Caracas in 2007, after serving two years as a state legislator in the same position. He was elevated to the cabinet by then-President Hugo Chávez in 2011 and moved up to vice president in 2014.
Past profile: Maduro, who took over the Venezuelan presidency in 2013 following the death of Chávez, has been a leading advocate of the socialist leader’s causes. Maduro was first elected to the Venezuelan National Assembly in 1998.
Solutions to the country’s economic crisis: Though Maduro has warned Venezuelans that tough times were coming, his slow responses and economic proposals have disappointed many. In 2014, he embarked on a state of emergency and a state of siege to try to curb the violent outbursts of social unrest. In 2016, the government shifted to controls on the supply of several goods, in a policy dubbed “popular reserve control.” The products were available for a certain period on the state agency’s website before they were allowed into the country. Some economists said the government was using the reserve supply system to artificially hold down prices and allow it to sell goods at a profit.