She is a woman whom Venezuelans call both the “Mother of the Nation” and the “Grey Cardinal”, implying that she was the one holding the threads of real power.
The operation “Absolute Resolve” (Absolute Resolve) carried out by the United States against Venezuela, which led to the arrest of the country’s presidential couple, was not simply a military move but a meticulously planned maneuver that left the planet stunned.
However, world history knows very few cases in which, during an overthrow, a country’s leader is arrested together with his wife.
The case of Cilia Flores, the wife of Nicolas Maduro, who was arrested alongside him during the lightning US operation in Caracas, proves that this woman was not randomly placed in the sights of American intelligence services.
“Grey cardinal”
Cilia Flores is known not only as the faithful partner of the president of Venezuela, but as his closest and most steadfast political ally for decades.
She is a woman whom Venezuelans call the “Mother of the Nation” and the “Grey Cardinal”, implying that she held the strings of real power.
The operation to arrest Nicolas Maduro was carried out just one day after his wife celebrated her 73rd birthday.
Cilia Flores was born on January 1, and already on the 3rd of the month she was being led captive to the United States together with her husband, after American commandos literally pulled them out of bed in their own home in Caracas, before they could react or hide.
But why did the Americans need the First Lady of Venezuela, when initially the charges concerned only her husband?
The answer lies in the fact that Cilia Flores is not merely a spouse, but a leading figure of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela and an autonomous political personality with enormous influence.
The lawyer of Hugo Chavez
As a legal professional, she became famous by leading the team that defended Hugo Chavez at the trial for the attempted coup.
In 1994, the lawyers secured his release and Cilia played a decisive role in this, as she was already characterized at the time as an exceptionally tough lawyer.
After that, her career skyrocketed and she soon became the most influential woman in the country.
In 1998 she helped Chavez win the elections, in 2000 she became a member of parliament, and in 2006 she assumed the presidency of parliament, succeeding Nicolas Maduro and becoming the first woman to hold that position.
Her rise continued when Chavez appointed her Attorney General of Venezuela in 2012, strengthening the positions of his government.
She remained in that post until the election of Nicolas Maduro to the presidency after the death of Chavez.
In Venezuela, she was regarded as the powerful “lever” of Nicolas Maduro, while he himself had stated that his wife possesses a “fiery character”.
Despite her new status as First Lady in 2013, Cilia did not abandon her political ambitions
The “Mother of the Nation” launched her own program on state television titled “With Cilia, like a family”, while she was re elected as a member of parliament and in 2017 became a member of the Constituent National Assembly.
She is considered the president’s right hand, his chief adviser, and the person who governed from behind the scenes, directing real power in the country.
The couple’s personal life unfolded before the eyes of the entire nation.
Nicolas Maduro met Flores in the 1990s, when both were married to other people.
She was a lawyer, he a bus driver and trade unionist, and they were united by a shared political idea.
Cilia has three sons from her first marriage, while Nicolas Maduro has one child from his first wife, and they have no children together.
They lived for years in cohabitation and married officially only in July 2013, after Nicolas Maduro’s victory in the elections, a move he had promised during the campaign in order to strengthen the institution of the family.
The First Lady accompanied him inseparably on all trips, working on their image as continuators of the work of Hugo Chavez.
Although Cilia is 10 years older than Nicolas Maduro, the difference was not apparent, as she took great care of her appearance and had recently gone blonde to look more attractive.
However, her name soon became linked to scandals of… cocaine
In 2015, she was accused of nepotism, with the opposition claiming that many of her relatives were appointed to the National Assembly thanks to her protection.
In November of the same year, two of her nephews were arrested in Haiti and extradited to the United States for attempting to import 800 kilograms of cocaine in order to earn 20 million dollars to help the family remain in power.
In 2017, they were sentenced to 18 years in prison in New York.
She claimed they had been kidnapped by American agencies, while Nicolas Maduro regarded the arrest as a deliberate US attack on his government.
Shortly afterward, the United States and Canada imposed sanctions on Cilia Flores and other members of Nicolas Maduro’s circle, accusing them of the humanitarian and economic devastation of Venezuela.
Nicolas Maduro stated at the time that Cilia’s only crime was being his wife, while their governance was marked by hyperinflation and mass migration.
In 2020, a former bodyguard testified that the First Lady provided cover to her nephews for smuggling
Today, after the couple’s capture, US Attorney General Pamela Bondi announced that they are charged with “narco terrorism”, illegal trafficking of weapons and drugs.
According to the 25 page indictment, the couple allegedly organized massive shipments of hundreds of thousands of tons of cocaine to the United States through corrupt officials and military structures.
Pamela Bondi intends to seek life imprisonment for both Nicolas Maduro and his wife.
The network of corrupt military officers and officials, known as the “Cartel of the Sun”, is said to have worked closely with them, with the United States having increased the bounty on Nicolas Maduro from 15 to 50 million dollars.
An independent pole could overturn US plans
Doctor of political science and analyst Andrey Pinchuk emphasizes that Cilia Flores constituted an independent pole of power.
As former Attorney General and President of Parliament, she was the backbone of the regime and, if she had remained in Venezuela, she could have rallied the elites and nullified US plans to control the country through Delcy Rodriguez.
Her removal was necessary to ensure that no competition existed and to guarantee that power would pass entirely into the hands of people who would execute American directives.
History knows very few such cases, such as Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu in Romania in 1989, who were executed together, or Ollanta Humala and Nadine Heredia in Peru in 2017.
The future of Nicolas Maduro and Cilia Flores appears bleak, as Flores’s presence in Caracas would have meant the failure of the entire US operation to seize Venezuela and its oil resources.
www.bankingnews.gr
Σχόλια αναγνωστών