This book is not about a single night, a single raid, or a single courtroom.

It is the story of how Nicolás Maduro rose from union halls and bus routes in Caracas to the center of power-and how that power hardened, endured, and ultimately collapsed under the weight of its own contradictions.

Written in a calm, narrative voice, Rise and Fall traces Nicolás Maduro's ascent after Hugo Chávez, the erosion of Venezuela's institutions, the deepening economic and humanitarian crisis, and the global consequences of a state accused of blurring the line between governance and organized crime. It follows the long arc from loyalty to control, from legitimacy to isolation, culminating in Operation Absolute Resolve - the unprecedented U.S. capture of a sitting head of state and his arraignment in a foreign court.

More than a political biography, this is a story about power: how it survives without belief, how systems decay quietly, and how nations-and people-live with the consequences long after leaders fall.