Exploring the life of Nicolás Maduro Guerra, also known as “Nicolasito,” is not a trivial exercise. His connection to Nicolás Maduro Moros positions him as a figure with direct access to the Venezuelan power center, despite the real extent of his influence being variable due to the current situation in Venezuela.
In fact, some consider him as the political heir and successor to Nicolás Maduro Moros.
This figure, instead of fading into the Venezuelan political backdrop, has crafted a public persona that transcends being merely “the son” of the tyrant. Over recent years, he has established himself as a political player particularly focused on economics and international relations.
His inclination toward the Chinese model makes it even more urgent to analyze his behavior, especially now that there is uncertainty about Venezuela’s future regarding whether the provisional government will continue to follow U.S. directions under Delcy Rodríguez.
Who is Nicolás Maduro Guerra, alias “Nicolasito”?
Nicolás Ernesto Maduro Guerra was born on June 21, 1990, in Caracas to Nicolás Maduro Moros and Adriana Guerra Angulo. He is married to Grysell Torres, with whom he has two daughters, one born in 2007 and another in 2012.
From 1998 to 2004, he played the flute in the System of Orchestras of Venezuela. He graduated as an economist from the Universidad Nacional Experimental Politécnica de la Fuerza Armada Bolivariana and has shown a political interest from a young age, working within the youth wing of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) (1).
It is said that the real reason he was granted the vice presidency of the PSUV’s youth movement in Caracas and La Guaira in 2018 was to displace Héctor Rodríguez, who was gaining significant power within Chavismo. Some argue that his political ascent is not due to talent, but rather solely his affiliation with Nicolás Maduro Moros.
“Nicolasito” was part of the controversial and sanctioned Constituent National Assembly called by his father in 2017, which operated until 2020 (2). He then moved to the National Assembly as a deputy for La Guaira, being one of the candidates presented by the ruling party in 2020 (3). During this time, he served on the Commission of Economy, Finance, and National Development, a special committee for electoral reform, and established parliamentary friendship groups with Russia, China, and Japan. He was re-elected for the term 2025-2030.
His extensive role has raised accusations of nepotism against the “presidential” family, as immediately after assuming the presidency in 2013, Nicolás Maduro Moros appointed him as head of the newly created Presidential Inspector Corps (4).
Additionally, in 2014, despite having no prior experience in the field, he was appointed coordinator of the National Cinematic Institute (5). In 2017, Maduro created the position of General Director of Delegations and Presidential Instructions for the Vice President and appointed “Nicolasito” to it (6). In 2018, he joined the board of directors of the National System of Youth and Children’s Orchestras (7). Another assignment from his father included participating in the negotiating commission between the regime and the Venezuelan opposition in Mexico in 2021.
Accused of Transporting “Unknown Packages” Without Control
In an interview in 2017, Captain Sunny Balza Dugarte claimed that Nicolás Maduro Guerra alias “Nicolasito” transported “unknown packages” through the airport of Margarita Island without any control.
Balza Dugarte also mentioned that at that airport, meetings occurred between Mexican drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán and individuals “close” to the Venezuelan regime.
Sunny Balza Dugarte, who sought political asylum in the United States after deserting from the Bolivarian National Armed Forces, stated that “the loads were handled at night by pickup trucks that entered directly onto ramps with unknown packages.”
He added that this operation took place at the military ramp of the Santiago Mariño International Airport, without any “airport or narcotics control.”
He did not rule out that the aforementioned packages could have contained illegal substances “due to the type of packaging and units being loaded onto aircraft owned by the state oil company PDVSA.”
The ex-military man also accused Nicolás Maduro Guerra alias “Nicolasito” of participating in “orgies with dozens of women” along with “his advisors, those responsible for connections with the National Guard, executives from PDVSA, and military high command” (8).
Admirer of the North Korean Model
In July 2019, while serving as the National Commissioner for Ideological Training of the PSUV, Nicolás Maduro Guerra made a mysterious trip to North Korea to attend a congress of communist youth.
He remarked, “The struggle of the Korean people is just. More than that, it’s human. And as such, it is ours too. This visit is historic, as it allows us to learn from you, from your model of resistance, from your society model. A more just, more human world is possible; we will build it together.” He expressed his desire to implement the Korean model in Venezuela.
After the trip, he posted on social media: “In North Korea, we were carrying out a brotherhood agenda, a fight for the sovereignty and equality of peoples. We continue to tread paths to strengthen ties of brotherhood with the world, to consolidate a fraternal embrace of Venezuelans for all those who work daily towards building a more humane world.”
However, the affinity would not solely be ideological between the Venezuelan and Korean regimes; more pragmatic reasons would also drive it, such as economic interests —including illegal mining— and collaborative efforts to evade international sanctions.
Sanctioned by the Department of the Treasury
On June 28, 2019, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the U.S. Department of the Treasury designated Nicolás Maduro Guerra alias “Nicolasito” as a member of the illegitimate regime led by his father, Nicolás Maduro Moros.
Executive Order (EO) 13692 underpinning this decision by the U.S. government stated that Maduro Guerra was a member of the illegitimate Constituent National Assembly (ANC) called by his father after taking presidency.
It also enumerated his roles within the Presidential Inspector Corps, his involvement in propaganda and censorship campaigns, and profiting from Venezuelan mines alongside Nicolás Maduro Moros and Cilia Flores. He was also held responsible for devising the strategy manipulating the Armed Forces to deny the entry of humanitarian aid to Venezuela, labeling it as an attempt to undermine Venezuelan democracy. He was pointed out for increasing censorship of telecommunications in Venezuela.
This measure blocked all assets and interests in property — directly or indirectly owned 50% or more — of Nicolás Maduro Guerra alias “Nicolasito” in the United States.
Then Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin stated, “Maduro relies on his son Nicolasito and others close to his authoritarian regime to maintain control of the economy and oppress the Venezuelan people. The Treasury will keep pursuing to hold accountable the family members complicit with illegitimate regime members who profit from Maduro’s corruption” (9).
Thus, he can be found in the OFAC official search database along with his identification and date of birth (10).
Regarding the irregular mining activities carried out by Nicolás Maduro Moros’ regime and its entourage, Transparency Venezuela reported that since 2017, the dictatorship resorted —besides corruption— to the sale of blood gold, as its extraction costs many lives. A study by the firm Ecoanalítica cited by TV states that illegal mining —though not new in Venezuela— soared after the nationalization of the sector by Hugo Chávez in 2011, especially from 2016 when gold smuggling reached USD 1.834 billion, representing 60.9% of the total. Furthermore, it noted that by the end of 2018, Venezuela lost USD 2.7 billion due to this illegal activity (11).
Corruption and Frontmen
Nicolásito is not spared from allegations of corruption. The former head of the Bolivarian Intelligence Service (SEBIN), Manuel Cristopher Figuera, accused him from his exile in the United States of orchestrating the plunder of gold from the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) and managing mining companies.
He pointed out that Nicolás Guerra bought gold cheaply from miners in Bolívar State — through mafias — only to resell it at inflated prices to the BCV.
Figuera also mentioned that the Venezuelan lawyer and businessman, Santiago José Morón Hernández, allegedly acts as a frontman for Nicolás Ernesto Maduro Guerra. It is worth noting that this man, along with his brother Ricardo José Morón Hernández, was sanctioned by the U.S. government for supporting “Nicolasito” in “corrupt activities of complicit members of his father’s illegitimate regime.”
The brothers were designated for their assistance, sponsorship, financial support, material, or technological services related to public corruption by high-ranking officials in the Venezuelan government.
The Department of Treasury identified Nicolás Maduro Guerra and the Morón Hernández brothers as “central figures in Venezuela’s gold industry.” To such accusations, “Nicolasito” replied that “the United States has no proof of illegal gold sales by the Morón brothers. What they have are means at their service that disregard rigor and ethics to spread lies.”
Other journalistic sources claim that Nicolás Maduro Guerra and the Morón Hernández brothers allegedly managed funds from public administration amounting to USD 1 billion to USD 2 billion. Turkey was purportedly one of the destinations for the precious metal traded by “Nicolasito.”
Furthermore, aside from gold, the business dealings between the Morón Hernández brothers and Maduro’s son would also extend to the importation of other products financed through the National Center for Foreign Trade, without guarantees that the goods would ever reach Venezuela (12).
Accusation in New York
In the indictment presented in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against his father Nicolás Maduro Moros and his wife, Cilia Flores, Nicolás Ernesto Maduro Guerra is also implicated for allegedly using a PDVSA airplane to transport drugs from Margarita Island.
The dictator’s son, also referred to as the “Prince,” is accused of negotiating directly with FARC representatives to coordinate cocaine and arms trafficking to the U.S.
The indictment notes that between 2014 and 2015, a captain of the National Guard in Margarita Island coordinated logistics and women for the visits of Venezuelan officials, including “Nicolasito,” who visited the area approximately twice a month. The son of the Cartel of Suns leader arrived via a Falcon 900 plane owned by PDVSA, and before departing the island, the plane was loaded — sometimes with the help of armed sergeants — with large packages wrapped in tape, which, according to the captain, were drugs. During one of these shipments, Maduro Guerra stated that the plane could go anywhere it wanted, including the United States.
The indictment continues that in 2017, “Nicolasito” sent hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Venezuela to Miami, Florida. He coordinated with his narcotraficant partners for the shipment of low-quality cocaine to New York since it couldn’t be sold in Miami.
In 2020, Nicolás Ernesto Maduro Guerra met in Medellín, Colombia, with two FARC representatives to negotiate agreements for transporting large quantities of cocaine and arms through Colombia to the U.S. until 2026. “Nicolasito” also discussed weapon payments to the FARC in relation to cocaine shipments, the indictment claims.
Nicolás Ernesto Maduro Guerra alias “Nicolasito” faces charges of conspiracy to import cocaine, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices (13).