President of Venezuela

The president of Venezuela (Spanish: Presidente de Venezuela), officially known as the president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (Spanish: Presidente de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is the executive head of state and head of government of Venezuela. The president leads the National Executive of the Venezuelan government and is the commander-in-chief of the National Bolivarian Armed Forces. Presidential terms were set at six years with the adoption of the 1999 Constitution of Venezuela, and presidential term limits were removed in 2009.

The office of president in Venezuela has existed since the 1811 Venezuelan Declaration of Independence from the Spanish Crown; the first president was Cristóbal Mendoza. From 1821 to 1830, Venezuela was a member state of Gran Colombia, and the Venezuelan executive was absorbed by the Colombian government in Bogotá. When the State of Venezuela became independent from Gran Colombia, the office of the president was restored under José Antonio Páez. Every head of state of Venezuela since then has held the title of president.

During the 19th century, Venezuela suffered political turmoil and autocracy, remaining dominated by regional military dictators until the mid-20th century. Since 1958, the country has had a series of democratic civilian governments until the 2010s, as an exception where most of the region was ruled by military dictatorships, and the period was characterized by economic prosperity.

The Venezuelan presidential crisis was a political crisis concerning the leadership and who holds the office remained disputed until 5 January 2023. It began when the opposition-majority National Assembly declared that incumbent Nicolás Maduro's 2018 re-election was invalid and the body declared its president, Juan Guaidó, to be acting president of the country. However, support for Guaidó declined following a failed uprising attempt in April 2019. Efforts led by Guaidó to create a transitional government were unsuccessful, with Maduro continuing to control Venezuela's state institutions. The European Union still does not recognize Maduro as the legitimate president, threatening his government with further sanctions. The interim government was dissolved in December 2022, when three of the four main political parties approved its dissolution to create a commission of five members to manage foreign assets, as the deputies sought a united strategy ahead of the presidential election of July 2024.

Following the 2026 United States strikes in Venezuela, in which president Nicolás Maduro was captured by and taken to the United States, Rodríguez was appointed acting president by order of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice, having already served in a de facto capacity in the immediate aftermath of Maduro's capture. Both Rodríguez and Maduro have asserted that the latter remains the legal officeholder. Venezuela has effectively been controlled by the U.S. Secretary of StateMarco Rubio, who has been referred to as the country's "viceroy," ever since the United States operation.