How Nicolas Maduro And Cilia Flores Left Their Spouses, Married After 20 Years Of Live-In

In a dramatic turn that has stunned Venezuela and the international community, President Nicolas Maduro now sits inside a New York detention facility, with his long-time partner and political confidante Cilia Flores held in a separate cell. (News18 Hindi)

Their fall from power has revived fresh curiosity about a relationship that was always as political as it was personal, a story that began in the heat of revolution and unfolded quietly over two decades before it was finally sealed in marriage. (News18 Hindi)

Maduro and Flores were both previously married when they first crossed paths in the early 1990s. At the time, Cilia Flores was a formidable defence lawyer, leading the legal team representing Hugo Chavez after his failed 1992 coup attempt. (News18 Hindi)

Nicolas Maduro was then a bus driver and union organiser, rallying support on the streets for Chavez’s release. Those close to the couple say their connection was instant. (News18 Hindi)

Flores was said to be impressed by Maduro's oratory and political instinct. Maduro would later quip that he "began winking at her the moment he saw her", a light-hearted aside masking the depth of a bond that would come to shape Venezuela's political future. (News18 Hindi)

Both eventually separated from their spouses. Maduro had a son from his first marriage, while Flores had three sons from her former husband, men who later rose to influential posts within the Venezuelan state. The pair, however, did not rush into marriage. Instead, they lived together for nearly twenty years, their personal and political lives deeply intertwined. (News18 Hindi)

When Maduro became Foreign Minister, Flores rose to become President of the National Assembly, earning the reputation of a political strategist and even a "kingmaker" within the ruling structure. Maduro affectionately calls her "Cilita", often referring to her as his closest adviser. Flores herself rejected the traditional role of First Lady, choosing instead the title "First Warrior". (News18 Hindi)

It was only after the death of Hugo Chávez in 2013, when Maduro ascended to the presidency, that the couple formally married in a quiet ceremony in July that year, presenting the move as a nod to "family values". (News18 Hindi)

Analysts say the long delay reflected both political calculation and cultural caution. Venezuela's Catholic-majority society places strong emphasis on family structures, and legal proceedings from earlier marriages reportedly took years to resolve. During Chavez’s rule, loyalty to the revolution overshadowed personal narratives. It was only once Maduro took the top office that their partnership was formally acknowledged. (News18 Hindi)

Now, with both detained in New York following a US operation on January 3, their shared journey has taken its most dramatic turn yet. Whether their political partnership can withstand the strain of imprisonment remains to be seen, but their story continues to fascinate a nation that has watched them rise, rule and now face a very different kind of reckoning. (News18 Hindi)