VENEZUELA’s former president Nicolás Maduro, his wife Cilia Flores, and interim leader Delcy Rodríguez have documented links to Indian spiritual leader Sathya Sai Baba, according to media reports.
Maduro and Flores were followers of Sathya Sai Baba and visited his ashram at Prasanthi Nilayam in Puttaparthi, Andhra Pradesh, in 2005, NDTV and Deccan Chronicle reported.
Photographs from the visit, showing the couple with Sathya Sai Baba, have resurfaced and circulated online.
According to reports, Flores introduced Maduro to Sathya Sai Baba before their marriage. Maduro, who was raised Catholic, later followed Sai Baba’s teachings.
A photograph of Sathya Sai Baba was displayed in Maduro’s office at the Miraflores Palace during his presidency, NDTV reported.
After Sathya Sai Baba’s death in 2011, Maduro proposed a motion in Venezuela’s National Assembly to honour the spiritual leader, Firstpost reported.
Delcy Rodríguez visited Prasanthi Nilayam on October 26, 2024, to pay her obeisances to Sai Baba. (Photo credit: Sri Sathya Sai Media Centre))
Delcy Rodríguez, who became Venezuela’s interim president after Maduro was captured by US forces, has also followed Sathya Sai Baba.
Rodríguez visited Prasanthi Nilayam in August 2023 and again in October 2024, WION reported.
WION reported that Rodríguez offered prayers at the ashram and at other spiritual sites linked to Sathya Sai Baba during her visits. Photographs from these visits later surfaced on social media following her appointment as interim president.
