Former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and current acting President Delcy Rodriguez both grew up Catholic in a country with an overwhelmingly Christian population and have a deep respect for the Indian spiritual leader who died in 2011.
Religious identity in Venezuela is complex, and it is common for people to mix multiple religions and spiritual practices. For Maduro and Rodriguez, that fusion includes the teachings of Sathya Sai Baba, who has had 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 struggle as a spiritual battle for Venezuela’s soul and sovereignty. Just weeks before he was captured by U.S. troops on Jan. 3, he celebrated Sai Baba’s centenary on social media and expressed hope that “the wisdom of this great teacher will continue to illuminate our mission to build a home of love, peace and noble spirituality.”
Rodriguez recently visited Sai Baba Ashram in southern India in 2024. She told her first presidential press conference last month that the Venezuelan people faced “a new moment of coexistence, mutual respect and recognition of others, so that they can construct and build new spiritual beliefs.”
Rodriguez also said in an interview with the organization’s official channel during her 2023 visit that she still feels the master’s presence during difficult times.
“A lot of times when I’m in danger, I feel like Dad is with me, my family and my country,” she said. “He is always with us, teaching us…and showing us the way to peace and love.”
Supreme Leader’s Affection for Sathya Sai Baba
In a shocking operation, the U.S. military captured Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, from their home in Caracas on January 3 and brought them to New York to face federal drug trafficking charges. Maduro calls himself a “man of God” while pleading not guilty.
After Maduro’s arrest, various Indian news outlets published a 2005 photo showing Maduro and his wife sitting at the feet of Sai Baba, who has distinctive black curly hair and is wearing a saffron robe. It was widely reported that Maduro displayed a large framed photo of Saibaba in his office at Miraflores Palace in Caracas, alongside portraits of Latin American liberator Simon Bolivar and former Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez.
Maduro declared a national day of mourning for Sai Baba’s death in 2011 and marked the 2025 centenary by praising the spiritual leader as a “man of light” and “a beacon of unconditional love, selfless service and truth.”
Video posted by the Sai Baba group, which remains active and ubiquitous in India, shows Rodriguez visiting the group’s monastery and headquarters in the town of Puttaparthi in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. During her visits in 2023 and 2024, she could be seen praying at the sanctum sanctorum, the Guru’s final resting place, which believers believe emanates spiritual energy. She can also be seen interacting with Sai Baba’s nephew RJ Rathnakar, who is currently the head of the organization.
The Associated Press attempted to contact Sai Baba groups in India and Venezuela for comment but did not receive a reply.
Sai Baba Group’s Presence in Venezuela
Sai Baba’s organization was in Venezuela long before Maduro and other politicians sought out the guru. The organization opened its first center in Caracas on August 22, 1974, founded by Arlette Meyer, a believer who wrote books in Spanish about the master. In her apartment, she and some other members sang devotional hymns and studied Sai Baba’s teachings – the group’s first such center in Latin America.
The group in Venezuela now appears to be centered around Abejares, a town in Tachira state about 465 miles (750 kilometers) west of Caracas, where it operates a “School of Human Values.” The town is the birthplace of former congressman Walter Marquez, who maintained close ties with Sai Baba before and after he served as Venezuela’s ambassador to India. Late last year, Marquez was honored by the Venezuelan Saibaba Organization. It is estimated that the number of Sai Baba followers in Venezuela is around 200,000, with millions more worldwide.
The role of religion in Venezuelan politics
Andrew Chesnut, a professor of religious studies at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, said Venezuelan faith is not monolithic. While Catholicism remains dominant, he said, it coexists peacefully with evangelical Protestantism, indigenous African traditions and transnational religious figures, without requiring formal conversion or exclusive allegiance.
“This syncretic religious ecology helps explain how Nicolás Maduro describes himself as a devotee of Sathya Sai Baba while cultivating close relationships with evangelical leaders who operate in very different theological worlds,” he said.
Chesnut said Venezuelan politicians only invoke religion with lip service rather than deciding policy or enacting laws. Encounters with figures like Sai Baba, he said, were “symbolic and performative rather than political ideologies or drivers of decision-making.”
an influential and controversial figure
Sathya Sai Baba, whose original name was Ratnakaram Sathyanarayana Raju, claimed to be the reincarnation of Guru Shirdi Sai Baba, who died in 1918 and was revered by both Hindus and Muslims. Sathya Sai Baba became popular in India and around the world in the 1970s and 1980s for his miraculous ability to materialize objects such as rings, necklaces and holy ash. He is believed to have performed spontaneous healings and resurrections.
Sai Baba encouraged his followers to practice his religion, often saying that God is one and all roads lead to the same truth. He is known for his quotes that reflect messages of unity and service: “Love all, serve all” and “Always help, never hurt.”
This Guru is known for interacting with devotees, meeting them individually and in groups. Although he traveled outside India only once in the 1960s, the movement has expanded globally, establishing nearly 2,000 non-sectarian centers in 120 countries, including 200 in the United States, according to the organization’s website.
His followers include Bollywood actors, cricketers, prominent business leaders and millions of ordinary Indians who flock to Sai Baba Centers to worship, pray and sing bhajans, or devotional songs, with many praising the guru.
Sai Baba faced strong criticism from some quarters, especially rationalists and scientists, who accused him of faking his miraculous materializations. He also faced criminal charges, including fraud, sexual abuse and murder charges, but was never charged with any of those crimes. His followers dismissed the accusations as slander and propaganda.
Sai Baba still has ardent followers, such as Dr. Samuel Sandwith, a retired psychiatrist in Southern California who has visited the guru nearly 80 times since 1972. He said he had seen the Guru manifest everything from holy ash called ashes to several gold rings.
Sandwith is not surprised that Maduro and other Venezuelan leaders are following Saibaba.
“I’ve seen him 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 (Caracas, Venezuela) and Sheikh Salik (New Delhi, India) contributed to this report.
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AP religion coverage is supported through the AP’s partnership with The Conversation US and grants from the Lilly Endowment Inc. The Associated Press is solely responsible for this content.
