Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro’s origins are muddled, since his birth certificate is missing and there’s very little information on the first 30 years of his life:
Venezuela’s Own ‘Birther’ Controversy: Where Was Nicolas Maduro Born?
there might be reasons for the Caracas leader to hide his place of birth. The opposition in Venezuela argues that the proud Bolivarian was actually born in neighboring Colombia, which, were it true, could remove him from the presidency: The Venezuelan Constitution specifies that the president needs to be Venezuelan by birth.
Little is known of Maduro’s past. There was a rumor earlier this year about the president belonging to a rock band, but it turned out to be false, as the rumor was refuted by the president himself in an interview with the TV channel Telesur. In any case, Maduro’s first 30 years of life — up until the coup d’état of 1992 led by the late Hugo Chávez — are shrouded in mystery.
No birth certificate has been found in Venezuela – or in Colombia. Apparently the book of birth certificates in the town of Cucuta, Colombia (where the opposition claims Maduro was born) for the month of November, 1962 is missing altogether, and the opposition claim that it’s missing by order of Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos.
Two members of the Venezuelan opposition have filed a complaint with the OAS against Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos; Santos’s administration replied he has nothing to do with it.
In a telephone interview last night, Pablo Medina, former presidential candidate for the opposition, listed the allegations (in Spanish)
