Talk:Nicolás Maduro

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RfC: Infobox image

What image should be used in the infobox? --Bakir123 (talk) 13:23, 11 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Option H (clear head shot, good angle, good crop and the most recent) or Option A (clear head shot, good angle, good crop and neutral expression). Isjadd773 (talk) 22:44, 11 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
clear head shot Not an accurate way to express it, it's actually very grainy if you zoom closer on the image Freedoxm (talk · contribs) 22:47, 11 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
Fair point. There is grain on zoom but I think its acceptable for the size of an Infobox image. It is the most recent and more of a textbook portrait than the others. If not H then my preference would be A. The only issue with A is it's outdated. Isjadd773 (talk) 23:04, 11 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
Option D is also pretty low-res when you zoom in, to be fair. NipponGinko (talk) 17:43, 3 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]
Option D, strongly oppose options A, E, G, H - A is too old, E shows him looking to the side, G shows a weird side profile, H is quite grainy.   Jalapeño   (u t g) 08:44, 12 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
The current photo (option D) is fine. Psychloppos (talk) 13:06, 12 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
Strong oppose Option D. His snowy hair... Photo quality is bad.
Option G is actually copyrighted. RIA Novosti template is for specific historic images uploaded in 2011-2012 by bot, permission doesn't exist for it.
Also I uploaded Option E and Option F from Belta.by (meeting with Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko) and Presidency of Venezuela. We should look other official-like portraits from Presidency of Venezuela. Roman Kubanskiy (talk) 07:39, 13 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
@Roman Kubanskiy I don't see your point against the status quo. His snowy hair... Photo quality is bad both E and F which you uploaded both have "snowy hair" and they have lower quality. Freedoxm (talk · contribs) 04:32, 16 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
I honestly don’t believe that “snowy hair” is the fault of the camera. He is 63 years old and that is just his natural graying hair. Stephen Sarsalari (talk) 06:00, 16 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
Option D. The image is quite recent, of good quality, and well cropped. Mathlock (talk · contribs) 13:39, 14 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
Option D. Current image is fine. A could be used when he dies, but for now, I support D. Stephen Sarsalari (talk) 16:10, 15 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
I Support Option A, C, H. All of them are good quality photos, I Extremely Oppose Option D as it looks really odd with Maduro's Blue-ish hair and Weird Grin, I Oppose Option E, F for their Low Quality. InterDoesWiki (talk) 03:28, 19 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
Option D, fine with option C as well. It has a good quality. Oppose A and E due to A being old and E being low quality. FantasticWikiUser (talk) 21:18, 19 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
Option D seems to be the best of the options available. ◦ Sibshops (talk) 17:19, 25 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
  • Option B C or F I feel like I'm being punk'd. Option D looks like an AI illustration. What am I missing that everyone else seems to get? I suppose if it's a real photo, Option D is fine. It's pretty posed, though. Option F is more candid and natural. pickalittletalkalittle🐤🐤🐤talk a lot pick a little more 22:38, 28 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
    Option D looks like an AI illustration. What am I missing that everyone else seems to get? I suppose if it's a real photo, Option D is fine If option D were to be an AI illustration, then it would be under a PD license; there are multiple cropped variations of the file. The author and the website that it's on proves otherwise. NeoSyria\Freedoxm (talk · contribs) 22:42, 28 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
    Option D isn’t an AI illustration. It’s just that the quality of every photo from President Lula/Brazil has this type of bright yet grainy quality. Stephen Sarsalari (talk) 01:59, 29 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
    Totally agree re missing what everyone else thinks. Option D is almost comically sharp. It looks awful and unworthy of the Wikipedia page of someone who brings in so much traffic to the site. No idea why everyone thinks it's best. I say option H is definitely the best option, and the most recent high-quality image of him by several years. NipponGinko (talk) 17:39, 3 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]
  • Option A, even though it is older, as it is a high quality photo, and seems to capture the fact he is a leader well. Also, strong oppose option D, as it looks rather strange; it's hard to put your finger on it but it feels off. His hair seems different (pointing more up than in the other photos), and the background makes it look weird. Apologies if these feel like cherry picking, but something just feels wrong with it, but I'm not sure what. option B would be my second choice, with, again, Option A being first. Wikieditor662 (talk) 08:02, 8 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]
Changing Pick to Option A solely because official portraits are now in use as infobox images for his predecessors Rafael Caldera and Hugo Chávez. Stephen Sarsalari (talk) 05:54, 17 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]
Both image changes were reverted; the previous images were of significantly higher quality and were both unexplained. See MOS:IMAGEQUALITY. NeoSyria\Freedoxm (talk · contribs) 05:59, 17 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Removal of relevant regime information in the lead

Definitely not the first person to say this, but I think it's a little disturbing that we're drawing back on what pre-2026 sources say about Maduro. Here's an except of the lead from the last edit in 2025:

"The UN Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela concluded that the country's justice system independence has been deeply eroded; the mission also identified frequent due process violations, including political external interference and the admission of evidence through torture. Most Venezuelan television channels are controlled by the state, and information unfavourable to the government is not covered completely. In 2018, a Board of Independent Experts designated by the Organization of American States (OAS) alleged that crimes against humanity have been committed in Venezuela during Maduro's presidency. In 2021, the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced the opening of an investigation regarding the situation in the country."

Versus what it says in its place today, 12 January 2026 (UTC):

"Maduro denied all allegations of misconduct and argued that the US had conspired against Venezuela to manufacture a crisis to enact regime change."

Yep, everything I said was completely removed. Sure, the body still mentions much of it but I'm convinced that this page has been purposely tampered with to make Maduro look like he's a victim after the US yoinked him out of his country in his pajamas. I do agree the second part is indeed relevant and should be included but it's embarrassing that Wikipedia has gone so far as to remove information from the lead that is obviously of top-importance regarding a chaotic figure such as Maduro. Allegations of crimes against humanity are NOT relevant? There is now no such reference in the lead to Maduro being accused of crimes against humanity like before.

Now because I believe in intellectual honesty, I am very pleased editors have kept in other information regarding Maduro in the lead, such as describing him as authoritarian and mentioning extrajudicial killings under Maduro. I applaud other editors for keeping it in. But we should not scale back what we've said before of Maduro. Once a dictator, always a dictator. MountainJew6150 (talk) 00:41, 12 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Please retract these unsupported WP:ASPERSIONS against myself and other editors MountainJew6150, or provide evidence. Thanks, ~~ AirshipJungleman29 (talk) 12:07, 16 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
I apologize if you believe I'm handing out a personal attack to Wikipedia editors, such as yourself. I do indeed retract any statement that could have provoked these feelings in you. So to clarify, I did not attempt to imply that this was malicious, only purposeful. It wasn't something that gradually eroded from the article. However, as I and anybody of intellectual honesty knows, human beings are prone to bias (that's not even debatable). I don't believe it is a personal attack to point out an article retracting its previous (and well sourced) claims about Maduro. Considering Wikipedia is notorious for bias, so much so that it has at has 4 articles describing its various types of bias regarding ideology, race, gender, and geography, I don't think it's that outlandish that this page might be biased. That's an inherent flaw of being a human being. I am biased, and you are biased. As Wikipedians, we are trying to put our biases aside and put together an article that meets WP:NPOV. And in my view, this article is more biased than before. This may not have been done maliciously, and I apologize if I implied that it was so. But I do believe bias is at fault for what is going on. I will however reword this subsection in the talk page to prevent further confusion. MountainJew6150 (talk) 17:13, 16 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Don't refer to him as the sitting president.

Refer to him as a former president, but mention he is still de jure president to some. Candidyeoman55 (talk) 13:20, 12 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

@Candidyeoman55: He is the de jure president until Rodriguez recognizes herself as permanent president. Freedoxm (talk · contribs) 13:59, 12 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
You didn't challenge my argument. You only reverted my common-sense edit. Candidyeoman55 (talk) 14:46, 12 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
Many people don't recognize the results of the 2024 election. Candidyeoman55 (talk) 14:50, 12 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
So? Wikipedia is not a breeding ground for pro-Western media, it's a completely neutral encyclopedia that relies on reliable, not pro-Western, sources. Freedoxm (talk · contribs) 15:07, 12 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
That's irrelevant. China doesn't recognize Taiwan. But we don't label Taiwan a rogue province on Wikipedia because they say so. Maduro was inaugurated and swore in in 2024. He is the president. Isjadd773 (talk) 16:47, 12 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
In no way, was your edit, "common-sense", it's opinionated. No one in the Venezuelan government formally recognizes Rodriguez as constitutional president and they still recognize Maduro as they believe he'll return from an agreement with the US. I would also appreciate it if you would stop WP:EDITWARRING. Freedoxm (talk · contribs) 15:09, 12 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
+1 This image was taken yesterday, showing the lead sentence that said that he is the president since 2013. It was unchallenged then (no one has challenged it since 2-3 days after he was captured), so in this case, why are calling your edit "common-sense" contradictory to that image? Freedoxm (talk · contribs) 15:12, 12 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
That is correct. As far as I can tell, it had been that way since the RfC that answered the question of whether the infobox should say whether the presidency is disputed:
During that RfC I made the change to remove the "disputed" language. The 2024 election was certainly disputed by the opposition (as was the 2018 election) and those concerns are echoed in Wikipedia-approved reliable sources. Regardless of those concerns about the elections, I believe it was undisputed that Maduro had retained power after both elections until the U.S. captured him. --David Tornheim (talk) 16:50, 12 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
He wasn't president before 3 Jan; the 2024 election was recognized by most countries and reliable sources as fraudulent. Neither de jure or sitting should be used anywhere. His occupation of the position has been disputed during his entire government. The words "sitting president" are POV. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 15:19, 12 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
However, according to the Venezuelan government and interim president Delcy Rodríguez, he is still the de jure president of Venezuela. This misquotes Delcy and is UNDUE in the lead; her exact quote can be included in the body, but to give the opinion of the non-elected VP so much weight, misquoted, in the lead is UNDUE. Neither Maduro nor Delcy are reliable sources for their status; their opinions can be stated (correctly) in the body of the article. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 15:37, 12 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
I don't know what's going to happen to this page honestly. The page needs to have an accurate introduction. Right now, it's one of the most important pages of the entire site. A foreign country capturing a sitting leader of another is unprecedented, hence the dispute. Let's solve it peacefully. Candidyeoman55 (talk) 15:37, 12 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
  • I restored to this version which appears to be the consensus more stable version. --David Tornheim (talk) 16:26, 12 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
    There is no "consensus" version for events a week old. Delcy issued her (non-reliable) opinion on 3 January. For example, at the end of the day on
    • 10 Jan, No UNDUE Delcy opinion in lead
    • 9 Jan, No UNDUE Delcy opinion in lead
    • 8 Jan No UNDUE Delcy opinion in lead
    • 7 Jan No UNDUE Delcy opinion in lead
    • 6 Jan No UNDUE Delcy opinion in lead
    • 5 Jan No UNDUE Delcy opinion in lead
    In fact, the lead was remarkably stable for the entire week, so to any extent there is a "consensus version" the versions for the entire week are it.
    Best I can tell, the UNDUE Delcy opinion was first introduced by Candidyeoman55 at 12:51 on 11 January, a little over one day ago.
    So, David Tornheim may have restored their preferred version, but not a consensus or stable version, which the restoration clearly is not. I suggest you correct your edit to restore the stable version. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 16:57, 12 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
    As far as I can tell, the sourcing I restored has been in the Infobox since Nice4What introduced it 23:13, 5 January 2026--including those versions provided above. --David Tornheim (talk) 13:26, 13 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
    David Tornheim, in case you missed or did not understand my post above, I am talking about your re-introduction of UNDUE content (Delcy's opinion, not a reliable source) to the lead. Specifically, the sentence According to the Venezuelan government and interim president Delcy Rodríguez, he is still the de jure president of Venezuela. You stated you had restored the stable version; I demonstrated that was not in any "stable" or "consensus" version. You haven't answered that; would you like to remove it? SandyGeorgia (Talk) 14:55, 13 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
    I agree that one line was introduced by Candidyeoman55 at 12:51 on 11 January--supported by the refs introduced 23:13, 5 January 2026. I agree with you that those refs should be in the body to support the content. So, I just added that material to the WP:BODY.
    So although I agree that one sentence was not stable, it is consistent with the part of the infobox that I had been watching, which has been stable for about a week. So I believe it should stay as is, and as far as I can tell no one else has tried to or argued to remove it. So I see no reason to remove it.
    I don't understand how you can claim that Delcy Rodríguez's opinion carries no weight.
    From googling "who does the Venezuelan government claim is the president of Venezuela", I found a phrase that seems to add some of the material you believe needs to be in the lede: "...while the opposition and many international bodies have disputed the legitimacy of Maduro's rule for years."
    I believe that content is sufficiently sourced in the WP:BODY already, so I added it to the WP:LEDE to make it more WP:NPOV. --David Tornheim (talk) 07:41, 14 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
    See also my reply on admin. Callanecc's talk page about this discussion. --David Tornheim (talk) 10:06, 14 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
This was already discussed multiple times. Maduro is still the de jure president until the Venezuelan government decides otherwise. Delcy Rodriguez is only the interim President. She is not the President.   Jalapeño   (u t g) 10:22, 13 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Is the presidency vacant or is Madura still in office, with the vice president executing his powers & duties, in his absence/incapacity. GoodDay (talk) 02:48, 13 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Maduro remains in office. The Trump administration claims he is no longer the president because as president he would be immune from prosecution. But they would have us believe that Maduro ceased to be president in 2019 because the election was rigged but somehow in 2023 he was recognized again but ceased to be president in 2026, because the 2025 election was rigged. Yet they don't recognize the woman who won the election, but the vice president appointed by Maduro, who says she is the interim president and Maduro remains the president. None of this makes any sense. TFD (talk) 03:30, 16 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
This thread has been inactive for three weeks now, and the article now opens with the uncontroversial statement that Maduro became president in 2013. Is it time to remove the "discuss" tag? Cosmic Latte (talk) 18:19, 7 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]
Absolutely; In fact, I'll remove it right away. NeoSyria\Freedoxm (talk · contribs) 19:44, 7 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 16 January 2026

In the first paragraph it talks about Maduro's recent arrest I believe that those parts should be moved to the "United States Capture ans Trial" section John George III (talk) 00:37, 16 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

 Not done: The first couple of paragraphs in an article, called the lead, are meant to summarise the entire article to give a reader a general overview of its content. For the specific definitions and formatting of a lead section, check out MOS:LEAD. Happy editing! FMRadio :3(chat | edits | she/her) 02:47, 16 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

About the infobox and the duration of his term

We need to discuss this. This is my opinion: We should say this in the portion of the infobox about his time in office:

De facto: 5 March 2013 – 3 January 2026

De jure: 19 April 2013 – present

I think it would be a good consensus. If you disagree, that's fine, but we can't mislead. Candidyeoman55 (talk) 13:41, 25 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]

What sources are you basing this on? We can't just arbitrarily declare things ourselves, we need to summarize the sources. --Aquillion (talk) 01:57, 13 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]
Even without sources he is correct, Hugo Chavez died on March 5th, 2013 if I am correct, and Maduro took office as president, de-facto his term ended when he got captured shane (talk to me if you want!) 14:04, 20 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]
It is not our place to make assessments on what happened when. Wikipedia is a tertiary source, and we have to summarize what other sources say, not what we see/believe. Mikeycdiamond (talk) 14:07, 20 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Okay, it is time to end this debate once and for all.

Since Delcy Rodriguez has effectively taken over the powers of president, I think that it is time to refer to Maduro as a "former president" as all powers that Maduro had are effectively in the hands of Delcy.

What do you guys think about this? shane (talk to me if you want!) 14:00, 9 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]

pinging people from past discussion @Candidyeoman55 @NeoSyria @David Tornheim shane (talk to me if you want!) 19:16, 9 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]
Agree, refer to Maduro as a former president. Candidyeoman55 (talk) 19:19, 9 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]
I think it's high time that we refer to him as a former president. Rodriguez and Maduro (heck, even the entire Venezuelan government) can say all they want about Maduro still being the president, but he isn't. Delcy Rodriguez is. Jeffrey34555 (talk) 18:24, 12 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]
We must follow what the W:RS says. Thanks for the ping. From [1][2][3], as of 2/12/2026, "Nicolás Maduro is still the legitimate leader of Venezuela, the country's acting president said in an exclusive interview with NBC News." So I believe we should not change the article.--David Tornheim (talk) 01:50, 13 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]
We definitely need to reflect the sources. The fact that those call Delcy Rodriguez acting president in particular rather than just president implies they're unwilling to indicate that Maduro isn't president in the article voice, which means we shouldn't take that step yet, either. That said, we should probably assemble a larger list of sources to get a sense of who is saying what. --Aquillion (talk) 01:57, 13 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]
I can create a list of sources so that you guys can dump it.
Talk:Nicolás Maduro/Sources that describe Nicolás Maduro as the president of Venezuela
Talk:Nicolás Maduro/Sources that describe Nicolás Maduro as the former president of Venezuela GuesanLoyalist (talk) 07:13, 20 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]
@EditorShane3456, Candidyeoman55, Jeffrey34555, David Tornheim, Aquillion, and ONUnicorn: Do you guys approve of this so far? GuesanLoyalist (talk) 07:15, 20 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]
yes shane (talk to me if you want!) 14:01, 20 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]
I dont care what sources say, I care about facts, and the fact is that Maduro, even though the Venezuelan government claims all they want, we cant just recognize one country's claim that the president, who is not even in the country btw, and all his powers have been transfered, that he is still the president, with basically NO AUTHORITY. shane (talk to me if you want!) 14:05, 13 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]
@EditorShane3456 Wikipedia cares about Verifiability, not truth. We need to follow sources, or risk becoming a morass of editor's opinions. ~ ONUnicorn(Talk|Contribs)problem solving 22:17, 13 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]
Nicholas is the De jure president of Venezuela but de facto detained in the United States. I think that we should refer to him as a "De jure president" since that one lady is now serving as the de facto president of the nation, since I doubt that the US will just give Maduro back to Venezuela. GuesanLoyalist (talk) 07:10, 20 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]
So yeah, calling the short description of the article as "President of Venezuela" is misleading for the viewer, what about "De jure president of Venezuela"? GuesanLoyalist (talk) 07:11, 20 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]
allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Nicol%C3%A1s_Maduro