Nicolás Maduro: from bus driver to Chávez successor to US detainee

As Maduro faces trial in New York on alleged involvement in narco-terrorism, how will Venezuelans judge their president?

Picture: AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos.

Nicolás Maduro, a former bus driver and union activist, rose from humble origins to rule Venezuela for 13 years and eight months before being unceremoniously ousted on Saturday by US special forces who seized the 63-year-old leader and flew him out of the country.

For years Maduro had accused the US government of seeking to undermine the supposed socialist revolution that his late mentor and predecessor, Hugo Chávez, ushered in in 1999. Now in the custody of US authorities, he will face indictment on narcotics charges and a potentially long prison sentence.