Maduro was Hugo Chavez's right hand man like Kamala Harris is Biden's right hand woman. The media and politicians preferred calling Maduro Chavez's right handman or hand picked successor, but Maduro was the Vice President when Chavez died.

Just like in the US, if the president dies the VP takes over, but unlike the US, Maduro held an election shortly after Chavez's death. Venezuelans elected him, but the US doesn't acknowledge socialist leaders and undemocratically attempted a coup. Look it up. It's so embarassingly inept.

Every leader who denies the US access to their nation's wealth seems to be dictator, yet US sanctions generated the biggest mass movement of refugees and humanitarian crisis in South America.

Oh, and Latin American leaders consider the US embargo on Cuba a genocide, but who cares what anyone other than the US says!