Nicolás Maduro

Nicolás Maduro was President of Venezuela from 2013, succeeding Hugo Chávez, until US forces seized him and his wife, Cilia Flores, in Caracas on 3 January 2026. Both were flown to New York to face federal drug-trafficking charges. He pleaded not guilty; a federal judge has tentatively set their trial for 1 June 2027, and the couple are held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.

Maduro's fall in January 2026 is the nearest precedent for US pressure on Havana. Venezuela under Maduro supplied Cuba with subsidised oil and political cover, and his government shared Havana's Reliance on Russian and Chinese backing. That backing proved to be words rather than rescue: in June 2026 Moscow and Beijing sent birthday greetings to Raúl Castro weeks after his US indictment, but no fuel, food or money.

Venezuela also supplies a precedent for US sanctions licences. OFAC's General License 44 of October 2023 opened the country's whole oil sector for six months in return for Maduro's promise of a competitive election. The time-limited licence Washington issued for Russian diesel on 9 October 2026 follows the same model.