Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro's India Connection: Devotee Of Sathya Sai Baba

Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela's ousted President, has an India connection. Long before political crackdowns and global sanctions, Maduro found his spiritual connection in India through his wife, Cilia Flores, who was also captured along with him and flown out of Venezuela after months of stepped-up pressure by the United States. 

Both Maduro and Flores were followers of Sathya Sai Baba. Raised Catholic, Maduro was introduced to the Indian spiritual leader through Flores before their marriage. The couple visited Prasanthi Nilayam ashram in the Puttaparthi area of Andhra Pradesh in 2005 to meet Sathya Sai Baba. 

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The India Connection

An image from that visit shows a young Maduro and Flores seated on the floor alongside the godman during their private meeting. 

Recently, the Venezuelan government sent out invitations for its National Day Celebrations featuring a 🕉️, leaving many puzzled.

Few know that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has been a Satya Sai Baba devotee for decades. Unfortunately, many Hindus are unaware of this and… pic.twitter.com/nwIv9Nv3U4

— Arun Pudur (@arunpudur) July 6, 2024

Reports also claim that as Maduro rose to power, a portrait of Sai Baba hung prominently alongside Simon Bolivar and Hugo Chavez on the walls of his private office in Miraflores Palace. 

After the Indian godman died in 2011, Maduro, then foreign minister of Venezuela, pushed for an official condolence resolution.  Under his guidance, Venezuela's National Assembly passed an official condolence resolution and declared a day of national mourning to formally recognise the guru's "spiritual contribution to humanity".

Over the years, the Sathya Sai organisation has continued to operate in Venezuela under his rule, even as many foreign institutions faced expulsion. Venezuela hosts one of the largest Sai Baba devotee communities in Latin America, with roots dating back to 1974.

In 2024, the Venezuelan government sent out invitations for its National Day Celebrations featuring a symbol of "om".

Just months before his capture in November 2025, Maduro broke from political messaging to honour the Godman's centenary. He described Sai Baba as a "being of light" in an official statement. 

"I always remember him when we met... May the wisdom of this great teacher continue to enlighten us," he said.

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About Maduro

Maduro was born into a working-class family on November 23, 1962, the son of a trade union leader. He worked as a bus driver during the time army officer Chavez led a failed coup attempt in 1992. He agitated for Chavez to be released from prison and backed his fervent leftist agenda in an era when socialism was well out of favour. 

After Chavez's 1998 election, Maduro won a seat in the legislature and spent years championing his mentor's self-styled revolution against U.S. intervention in Latin America. Adversaries took swipes at Maduro's working-class roots and portrayed him as a buffoonish cretin who did little more than slavishly repeat Chavez's bombast.

But the criticism made little dent in his meteoric rise: he became president of the National Assembly and later foreign minister. In that role, he crisscrossed the globe to help build alliances with other developing countries through oil-financed assistance programmes. 

Maduro was narrowly elected president after Chavez died from cancer in 2013. But there was a gaping chasm between his own appeal and the legendary charisma of his predecessor. His rule was quickly plagued by bread lines and product shortages that smacked of Soviet-era collapse, largely due to his unwillingness to unwind lavish Chavez-era subsidies that were unsustainable after the oil boom came to an end.

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As inflation soared in 2013, Maduro sent troops to occupy shops that sold home appliances and forced them to sell off their wares at fire-sale prices, helping fuel his popularity in the run-up to a nationwide election for mayors. In 2018, militants attempted to assassinate him by sending explosives-laden drones over the top of a rally he was addressing on a Caracas avenue, leading him to reduce his spontaneous public appearances and limit live broadcasts of public events.

Throughout his career, Maduro was often flanked by his wife, Cilia Flores, who held numerous high-ranking positions, including attorney general and chief of parliament, and was often seen as a power broker with as much influence as her spouse. Trump on Saturday said Maduro and Flores were captured and flown out of the country.