Former and current President of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro Acting President Delcy Rodriguez They both grew up as Catholics in a majority-Christian country, and have deep respect for the Indian spiritual leader, who died in 2011.
Religious identity is complex VenezuelaIt is common for people to combine multiple religious and spiritual practices. For Maduro and Rodriguez, this mix includes the teachings of Sathya Sai Baba, who has enjoyed a strong global following for more than 50 years for his message of unity, love and spiritual unity that transcends religious, social and cultural barriers.
Maduro has often invoked Christ, the Holy Spirit and God in his speeches as president, describing his government’s struggles as a spiritual battle for Venezuela’s soul and sovereignty. Just weeks early January 3 Captured by American forcesHe marked Sai Baba’s centenary in a social media post, expressing his hope that “the wisdom of this great teacher will continue to enlighten us in the task of building a nation of love, peace and high spirituality.”
Rodriguez visited Sai Baba’s ashram in south India as recently as 2024. She said during Her first presidential briefing Last month, the Venezuelan people faced “a new moment in which coexistence, mutual respect and recognition of others allow for the construction and construction of a new spirituality.”
Rodriguez also said In an interview With the official channel of the organization during the 2023 visit, the presence of the teacher can still be felt in difficult times.
“Many times, when I was in danger, I felt Baba’s presence with me, with my family, and also with my country,” she said. “He is always with us, teaching us… and showing us the path of peace and love.”
the Maduro and his wife, Celia Flores, were arrested by the US militaryfrom their home in Caracas on January 3 in a stunning operation that brought them to New York to face federal drug trafficking charges. Maduro described himself as a “man of God” while pleading not guilty.
After Maduro’s arrest, several media outlets in India published a 2005 photo showing him and his wife sitting at the feet of Sai Baba, who had distinctive black, curly locks and wore a long saffron robe. It has been widely reported that Maduro displayed a large framed photo of Sai Baba in his office at Miraflores Palace in Caracas, along with photos of Latin American liberators. Simon Bolivar And former Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez.
Maduro, who declared a national day of mourning for Sai Baba’s death in 2011, celebrated Centenary 2025 By praising the spiritual leader as a “being of light” and “a beacon of unconditional love, selfless service, and truth.”
Videos posted by Sai Baba, which is still active and ubiquitous in India, showed Rodriguez visiting shrines and its headquarters in Puttaparthi, a town located in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. During visits in 2023 and 2024, she can be seen praying at the sanctuary, the Guru’s final resting place, which devotees believe radiates spiritual energy. She can also be seen interacting with RJ Rathnakar, Sai Baba’s nephew who is currently heading the organisation.
Efforts by The Associated Press to reach Sai Baba’s organization in India and Venezuela for comment were not responded to.
Sai Baba’s organization came to Venezuela long before Maduro and other politicians searched for the guru. The organization opened its first center in Caracas on August 22, 1974, and was started by Arlette Mayer, an enthusiast who wrote Spanish-language books about the teacher. In her apartment, she and a few other members sang devotional hymns and studied Sai Baba’s teachings — the organization’s first such center in Latin America.
In Venezuela, the organization now appears to be based in Abigales, a town in Tachira state, about 465 miles (750 kilometers) west of Caracas, where it runs a “School of Human Values.” The town is the birthplace of former legislator Walter Márquez, who maintained close ties with Sai Baba before and after serving as Venezuela’s ambassador to India. Marquez was honored by the Sai Baba Organization in Venezuela late last year. Some estimates indicate that the number of Sai Baba’s followers in Venezuela is about 200,000 and millions worldwide.
Faith in Venezuela is not monolithic, said Andrew Chesnutt, a religious studies professor at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. Although Catholicism remains dominant, he said, it coexists comfortably with evangelical Protestantism, indigenous African traditions and transnational religious figures, without the need for formal conversion or exclusive allegiance.
“This syncretic religious environment helps explain how Nicolas Maduro can describe himself as a devotee of Sri Sathya Sai Baba, while at the same time cultivating close relationships with evangelical leaders who operate in a very different theological world,” he said.
Religion is invoked rhetorically by Venezuelan politicians, rather than dictating policy or drafting laws, Chesnutt said. Encounters with figures such as Sai Baba “carry symbolic and performative weight rather than serving as drivers of political ideology or decision-making,” he said.
Sathya Sai Baba, born Ratnakaram Satyanarayana Raju, claimed to be the reincarnation of Shirdi Sai Baba, a guru revered by Hindus and Muslims, who died in 1918. Sathya Sai Baba became famous in India and around the world in the 1970s and 1980s as news spread of his miraculous abilities to materialize objects such as rings, necklaces and sacred ashes. It is believed that he performed spontaneous healings and revivals.
Sai Baba encouraged his followers to practice their religions, often saying that God is one and that all paths lead to the same truth. He was known for sayings that reflected his message of unity and service: “Love all, serve all” and “Always help, never hurt.”
The guru was known to interact with devotees, meeting with them individually or in groups. Although he traveled only once outside India — in the 1960s to East Africa — the movement has gone global, establishing nearly 2,000 nonsectarian centers in 120 countries, including 200 in the United States, according to the organization’s website.
His followers include Bollywood actors, cricketers, prominent business tycoons, and millions of ordinary Indians who flock to Sai Baba centers to worship, pray and sing bhajans or devotional songs, many of them praising the Guru.
Sai Baba faced severe criticism from some quarters, especially rationalists and scholars, who accused him of faking his miraculous incarnations. He also faced criminal charges including fraud, sexual assault and murder, but was never charged with any of these crimes. His followers denied these accusations, describing them as slander and propaganda.
Sai Baba still has ardent admirers like Dr. Samuel Sandweiss, a retired psychiatrist based in Southern California, who has visited the guru nearly 80 times since 1972. He said he has seen the guru embodied everything from sacred ashes called vibhuti to numerous golden rings.
Sandweiss was not surprised that Maduro and other Venezuelan leaders followed Sai Baba.
“I’ve seen it with all kinds of people from all walks of life — from the lowest to the highest,” he said. “His main message was that love transcends all religions and unites us all.”
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Associated Press writers Jorge Rueda in Caracas, Venezuela, and Sheikh Saliq in New Delhi, India, contributed to this report.
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Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP cooperation With The Conversation US, funded by Lilly Endowment Inc., the AP is solely responsible for this content.