Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s India Connection—A Longstanding Devotion Towards Sathya Sai Baba

Key Points:

Venezuela’s ousted President Nicolás Maduro, who was captured along with his wife Cilia Flores in a dramatic US military operation in January 2026, had a long spiritual connection to India centred around the late Indian spiritual leader Sathya Sai Baba.

Maduro was raised as a Catholic and was introduced to Sathya Sai Baba through Cilia Flores before their marriage. The couple became followers of the Indian spiritual leader and, in 2005, travelled to Prasanthi Nilayam in Puttaparthi, Andhra Pradesh, for a private meeting with him.

As Maduro rose through Venezuela’s political hierarchy, his devotion reportedly remained visible. Accounts from visitors to Miraflores Palace suggest that a large portrait of Sathya Sai Baba was displayed in Maduro’s private office alongside images of Simón Bolívar and Hugo Chávez, reflecting the spiritual leader’s place in Maduro’s life.

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Following Sathya Sai Baba’s death in 2011, Maduro—then serving as Venezuela’s foreign minister—played a key role in pushing an official condolence resolution through the National Assembly. Venezuela declared a day of national mourning, becoming the only Latin American country to do so in recognition of the guru’s “spiritual contribution to humanity.”

Despite widespread crackdowns on foreign organisations during Maduro’s presidency, the Sathya Sai organisation continued to function in Venezuela. Today, the country is home to one of the largest Sathya Sai Baba devotee communities in Latin America, with its origins dating back to 1974, when Venezuelan devotee Arlette Meyer helped establish the first Sai Centre in Caracas after translating Man of Miracles into Spanish.

The Venezuelan government’s symbolic gestures continued in recent years. Invitations for the 2024 National Day celebrations carried the Om symbol, highlighting the spiritual organisation’s cultural footprint. On November 23, 2025, just months before his capture, Maduro marked Sathya Sai Baba’s birth centenary, calling him a “being of light” in an official statement. “I always remember him when we met and he gave us his blessings. Our tribute on the centenary of his birth, my greetings to his people, his family and the Sai Baba Foundation,” Maduro said.

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Renewed focus on Maduro’s personal life follows his dramatic capture by US special forces, who reportedly entered Caracas by helicopter, breached his security cordon, and extracted him from a safe room, according to Reuters. The operation marked the largest US military intervention in Latin America since the 1989 invasion of Panama.

The Trump administration has accused Maduro and Flores of overseeing a cocaine trafficking network and partnering with criminal groups. Maduro has consistently denied the allegations, claiming they were a pretext for Washington’s interest in Venezuela’s oil reserves. President Trump has also recently said that the US would “take back” Venezuela’s oil reserves to reimburse Washington for its past spending.

Born on November 23, 1962, into a working-class family, Maduro began his career as a bus driver in the early 1990s and emerged as an early supporter of army officer Hugo Chávez after the failed 1992 coup attempt. He later became a legislator, served as foreign minister, and rose to the presidency following Chávez’s death in 2013.

Throughout his political career, Cilia Flores remained a central figure in Venezuela’s power structure, serving in senior roles including attorney general and head of parliament, and was widely viewed as a powerful political operator in her own right.

[VP]

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