Who was Nicolas Maduro's wife? She's not so simple

Cilia Flores. August 5, 2017. Photo: AP Photo / Ariana Cubillos

When American special forces arrested Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, they captured not only the president of Venezuela but also one of the country's most influential women.

Flores is 69 years old. She was born in the small town of Tinaquillo but grew up in Caracas. She studied law and graduated from Santa Maria University. During her student years, Flores not only mastered legal codes but also became interested in politics, embracing left-wing ideas.

In 1992, young Lieutenant Colonel Hugo Chávez made an unsuccessful coup attempt against President Carlos Andrés Pérez. Chávez ended up in prison and needed legal assistance. Cilia Flores, then a young and ambitious lawyer, joined his defense team, who secured his pardon and release from prison in 1994.

It was during that turbulent revolutionary period that her relationship with Nicolás Maduro, who was a trade union activist, began. It is worth noting that Cilia is six years older than her husband. Their union remained civil for many years — they officially married only in 2013, after Maduro became acting president. Many analysts call this partnership a political tandem, where Cilia often acts as a strategist, guiding her husband's actions.

Before her union with Maduro, Cilia was married to Walter Gavidia Rodríguez. From her first marriage, Cilia Flores has three sons: Walter Jacob, Yoswal Alexander, and Yosser Daniel Gavidia Flores. She has no biological children with Nicolás Maduro. However, Maduro has his own son from a previous relationship — Nicolás Maduro Guerra (known as "Nicolasito"). Together, they formed a large family that functions as a single political and economic clan.

Political Career: The First Woman in Power

In 2000, Flores was elected to the National Assembly, and in 2006, she became its president — the first woman in Venezuelan history to hold this position. Notably, Cilia succeeded Nicolás Maduro in the speaker's chair, who was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs.

On January 10, 2007, Flores swore in Hugo Chávez after the presidential elections. She led the parliament until 2011 — these were years of strengthening the Chavista model of power, when the state increasingly transformed into a system where real decisions were made by a narrow circle of intimates.

Павялічыць

Nicolás Maduro with his wife, January 10, 2025. Photo: AP Photo / Matias Delacroix

Later, in 2012–2013, she served as the country's Attorney General.

As noted by The New York Times, Flores created a judicial system in which almost every important decision was made through her, and strengthened state institutions with relatives and supporters. At the same time, according to journalists, analysts, and former officials, her family accumulated vast wealth.

When Maduro came to power, Cilia officially married him and categorically refused the traditional title "first lady", considering it a bourgeois relic that diminishes the role of women in society. Instead, she introduced the title "first fighter" (in Spanish, Primera Combatiente).

Her desire to emphasize her ideological connection with her predecessor also manifested in 2015, when Cilia created a Twitter account in which she described herself as "Chavez's daughter". However, she later somewhat softened this strong image, changing the description to the more concise "Chavista". Nicolás Maduro himself calls his wife Cilia.

After the wedding, Cilia's political career did not end. In 2015, she again became a deputy of the National Assembly, and in 2017, she was elected to the National Constituent Assembly of Venezuela, which was involved in drafting a new constitution.

Павялічыць

Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores. December 10, 2025. Photo: Jesus Vargas / Getty Images

Accusations and Scandals

Along with significant influence comes a trail of nepotism accusations. When Flores headed the parliament, the opposition and trade unions claimed that she employed dozens of her relatives in the structure — from siblings to nephews. Lists of about 40 people from her family who received positions in the state apparatus appeared in the press.

Her sons from her first marriage, often called "Los Chamos" ("The Boys") in Venezuela, attract particular attention. Although they try to stay in the shadows, their names constantly appear in corruption investigations.

In 2019, the U.S. Department of the Treasury imposed personal sanctions against all three of Cilia Flores's sons, accusing them of involvement in schemes to steal funds from state programs.

The most damaging scandal associated with Flores's name is the "narco-nephews" case (Narcosobrinos). In 2015, two of her nephews, one of whom she raised as her own son after the premature death of her sister, were arrested in Haiti while attempting to arrange the delivery of 800 kilograms of cocaine to the United States. Local police handed them over to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. A New York court found the men guilty and sentenced them to long prison terms.

This story dealt a colossal blow to the presidential couple's reputation, showing the family's possible ties to international drug trafficking, although Flores herself called it an "imperialist kidnapping."

Павялічыць

Nicolás Maduro, Cilia Flores, and two-year-old Venezuelan girl Maikelis Espinoza Bernal, who was separated from her parents in the U.S. in 2024 and returned to Venezuela. May 15, 2025. Photo: Jesus Vargas / Getty Images

Due to accusations of undermining democracy and corruption, Cilia Flores is under personal sanctions from the U.S., Canada, Panama, and several other countries. The United States calls her a key figure who helped Maduro maintain authoritarian control. On January 3, 2026, a federal indictment was published in the U.S., accusing Flores, Nicolás Maduro, and his son of direct cooperation with drug traffickers.

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