Hugo Chavez’s heir to U.S.’ most wanted: Why Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro is in Trump’s firing line

Donald Trump has put a $50 million-bounty on Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro. As the crisis between the two worsen, we look at Maduro up close. A union man turned bus driver, turned foreign minister, turned president. Chávez’s chosen heir, who inherited the revolution not in its glory but in its collapse. His first term saw daily protests, more than 100 killed in 2017, and an economy spiraling into hyperinflation. His second term was branded illegitimate, birthing Juan Guaidó’s short-lived claim to the presidency. Yet Maduro survived, outlasting Western sanctions, international isolation, and even U.S. indictments for narco-terrorism. Now, with Washington and Trump using him as both a campaign foil and a criminal target, Maduro remains in power in Caracas, his grip unshaken. So is Venezuela still Chávez’s dream, or Maduro’s kingdom of survival? And what does Trump really gain from keeping Maduro on America’s most-wanted list? Ananya Dutta breaks it all down in the Grey Zone.