Nicolas Maduro, the leader of Venezuela, has been in power for 10 years, since Chavez died in 2013.
Mr. Maduro, a former bus driver and union leader, has grown increasingly unpopular. Economic catastrophe and a brutal crackdown on political dissent make him one of the world’s most-discredited leaders. There have been frequent allegations of human rights abuses.
Since Mr. Maduro took office, the economy has tanked, depriving Venezuelans of basic things like food and medicine. Last year the International Monetary Fund estimated the current economic collapse had cut Venezuela’s economy by 80 percent in the past decade, leaving one in three poor.
Last year people took to the streets with shouts of “No Maduro,” and a wave of street demonstrations paralyzed Venezuela for weeks. In response, Mr. Maduro tightened his grip on power by banning some of the country’s most prominent opposition leaders, adding to his grip on power.
In late 2018, news broke that the U.S. had levied some of the most severe sanctions ever leveled against a leader of an oil-rich but struggling country. President Donald Trump announced sanctions that would block the energy exports from Venezuela and his administration issued an explicit threat to Mr. Maduro, saying that Venezuela’s “oil resources will be used to benefit the people of the United States,” if it refused to replace Mr. Maduro.