EFE (via 14ymedio), Carlos Seijas Meneses, Caracas, 20 April 2025 — Nicolás Maduro reached the first 100 days of his controversial third term in Venezuela this Sunday, marked by questions about his legitimacy, sanctions and the return of more than 2,500 migrants, mostly deported by the United States.
The following are the eight events that have marked the Chavista’s management since his inauguration on January 10:
Proclaimed winner by the National Electoral Council (CNE), which is linked to the Chavista regime, Maduro advances in his third term without, almost nine months later, disaggregated results being known -contrary to the established official schedule- which led the Carter Center, which was an observer, to conclude in February that these elections “cannot be considered democratic.”
The largest opposition coalition, the Unitary Democratic Platform (PUD), denounced the consummation of a “coup,” insisting that the winner was Edmundo González Urrutia.
Washington tightened sanctions against Caracas after Donald Trump’s return to the White House
Maduro is backed by countries such as Russia, China, Iran, Turkey, Qatar, Belarus, Serbia, Equatorial Guinea, Cuba, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Honduras, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
By contrast, the US, Canada, Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Colombia, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Uruguay, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, Germany, Italy and Japan have questioned his legitimacy.
Washington tightened sanctions against Caracas following the return of Donald Trump to the White House, ending oil licenses and imposing 25% tariffs on Venezuelan crude buyers, as well as 15% tariffs on products from the Caribbean nation, whom the Republican accuses of having sent “tens of thousands of criminals” to the United States, which rejects Chavism.
Maduro insists that “there is no threat in the world that can intimidate” his country, and this month he decreed an economic state of emergency in response to Washington’s measures. Caracas also issued a “travel alert” about “risks” in the United States.
Since February, according to official figures, 2,559 Venezuelans have returned to their country – most of them from the United States- on 13 flights, three of them American planes, as part of an agreement reached during a visit to Caracas by Richard Grenell, special representative of Trump, in January.
Since February, according to official figures, 2,559 Venezuelans have returned to their country, mostly from the United States, on 13 flights
On April 9, Maduro denounced a “civilizing aggression” against migrants in the United States, which in March deported more than 200 people to El Salvador, accused of allegedly belonging to the criminal gang of Venezuelan origin Tren de Aragua, designated as terrorist by Washington and condemned by the Maduro administration.
Maduro assured that this year there will be at least a dozen elections, including regional and parliamentary ones, to be held on 25 May. This has created divisions within the opposition between those who call for voting and those who do not.
Maduro also plans to submit for consultation a draft constitutional reform that is being prepared by a commission headed by the attorney general, Tarek William Saab, to be presented in May, when the 90-day deadline given by Maduro in February expires.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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