"Defeat is etched on his face like the mark of Cain.". That was the comment Jorge Rodríguez made to his sister Delcy as he left the meeting with President Nicolás Maduro and the President of the Supreme Court, Caryslia Rodríguez. "I didn’t understand the tone he used when he said that the Last name Rodríguez seems to be a bad omen in these turbulent times," Delcy replied. "It's just a mirror effect," Jorge said.

"The impact of the loss has Maduro rambling; there’s a deep breach in his perception of reality," he concluded, convinced that he had a psychiatric explanation for the events of the recent days following the presidential election on July 28, 2024, where Edmundo González, from the democratic alternative, defeated him by doubling the votes: 67% to 31%. Delcy continued walking, deep in thought, until she got into the vehicle of her convoy as she left the Miraflores Palace. "I forgot to call the Strategic Operational Command," she muttered to herself, "I didn’t check if there’s a missile drone lurking." She chastised herself, worried about the designs of the Oracle of the Great Mamerto.

The Vice President of Venezuela had developed a compulsive obsession since March 2022 when the three emissaries she sent to meet with the Shaman of the Yanomami tribe in the Amazonas State returned, saying that the xapiripë foretold her ambitions were doomed to fail and that "the mark of destiny indicates that only exile will prevent a fatal outcome."

Part I: The shaman's prophecy

In September 2022, I wrote an article titled SHADOWS IN THE SUNSET: The Inexorable Fall of the Venezuelan Regime, which was published in Meer on March 4, 2023. In that article, I recounted an episode that, at the time, seemed to be just a dark anecdote, but over time was revealed to be a prophetic warning. In November 2021, Nicolás Maduro received a disturbing message from an Amazonian Shaman, a man revered for his connection to the spiritual world of the Yanomami tribe. During a ritual witnessed by a Supreme Court Justice, three unknown spirits appeared before the Shaman, taking the form of elderly women weaving invisible threads in the air. One of them, who introduced herself as Aisa, spoke to the Shaman in his native language, announcing an inevitable fate for Maduro: Ananké, the Greek goddess of unavoidable fate, had decreed the end of Nicolás Maduro's regime, an end that would materialize in no more than three years.

The vision became even more disturbing when another of the female spirits measured a thread and, with a decisive gesture, Aisa cut it, solemnly declaring: "What must be, will be." These words echoed in the Shaman's mind and were conveyed to Maduro with a clarity that left no room for doubt. The warning was given; the end of his rule was woven into the threads of fate, and the gods, who until then had seemed indifferent, had decided to intervene.

Maduro, though skeptical, could not ignore the gravity of the message. Seeking a more favorable interpretation, he decided to consult a priest from the town of Shirdi in India, known for his wisdom and closeness to the divine. He ordered the priest to be brought immediately to Venezuela to offer him a more holistic and hopeful vision of the prophecy's scope.

Three days later, a man dressed in a maroon robe entered the Miraflores Palace. He was a monk who had served Sathya Sai Baba, the spiritual leader whom Maduro and Cilia Flores had venerated for years, even making a pilgrimage to India to meet him in person. In a room specially prepared for the occasion, the monk met with Maduro and a select group of his closest collaborators. For hours, the monk meditated deeply, searching the darkest corners of the universe for an answer to Maduro's desperate request.

Finally, the monk broke the silence with a sentence that echoed through the walls of Miraflores: "What the qismata has revealed is inexorable." There was no escape, no ritual, no offering that could change what was already destined. The monk, with the serenity that only the wise possess, asked to be taken to his hotel to rest, but not before leaving one last warning.

The next day, before returning to India, the monk requested a final audience with Maduro. With a face marked by hope and fear, Maduro listened to the words that would seal his fate: "The only thing you will be allowed to decide about what fate has in store for the end of your rule is whether you do it voluntarily. Because if you try to escape fate, you will be futilely overthrown by betrayal."

These words were etched into Maduro's mind, resonating like an echo that refused to fade. The Shaman's prophecy, reinforced by the monk's revelation, was not something that could be ignored. For the first time in his life, Maduro felt control slipping from his grasp, realizing that destiny, relentless and indifferent to his will, had begun to weave his downfall.

Maduro did not understand why the forces he had tried to manipulate for his benefit had turned against him. The spirits, the gods, and now even the universe seemed to conspire to fulfill what the Shaman and the monk had seen in their visions. The end of Nicolás Maduro's regime was not just a possibility; it had become a certainty written in the threads of fate. And so, the Yanomami Shaman's prophecy began to take shape, marking the beginning of an outcome that Maduro, in his obstinacy, had refused to accept and that, when he finally did, might be too late.

Part II: The rebellion of the Queen María Lionza

Upon returning from the trip to the Amazon, three emissaries from the Rodríguez siblings arrived with a disturbing message sent by the Shaman to Nicolás Maduro: "This home of life and harmony has suffered unforgivable wounds, and in the suffering inflicted upon it, the screams of pain have opened up as jaws the cracks that will devour the architects of this sacrilege." This prophecy, wrapped in symbolic language, resonated deeply in the mind of Nicolás Maduro Guerra, also known as "Nicolasito," who spent weeks reflecting on its meaning.

Convinced that he had to act to avoid the dark fate foretold by the xapiripë, Nicolasito decided to seek advice from a spiritist devoted to Queen María Lionza. This figure, popularly represented as a goddess or queen, is the epicenter of the Marialioncero spiritual cult, a Venezuelan tradition that blends indigenous and African rites and has absorbed mystical elements from other cultures. The spiritist, smoking tobacco in an atmosphere charged with mystery, warned him: "You must make a huge offering to appease the Queen. You should erect a statue of her on the Mountain of Sorte," he suggested before throwing the tobacco three times on the ground, thus sealing the fate of his recommendation.

Determined to calm the wrath of María Lionza and convinced that this act could alter the course of his father's destiny, Nicolasito devised a bold plan: to move the statue of María Lionza, originally erected by dictator Marcos Pérez Jiménez, to the Mountain of Sorte. This three-meter-high statue, created by sculptor Alejandro Colina in 1951, had been a prominent symbol on the Autopista del Este in Caracas, near the entrance to the Central University of Venezuela (UCV). However, in 2004, the statue split in two during a failed restoration attempt, and although it was repaired, it never returned to its original place.

The transfer of the statue to the Mountain of Sorte, planned for the first week of October 2022, was carried out in complete secrecy. On October 3, the statue was secretly removed from the UCV and transported to the Mountain of Sorte, where it was installed on October 4. This act, which for Nicolasito represented an offering intended to change the regime's fate, was met with indignation by civil society, UCV graduates, and political leaders, who considered it a cultural "theft and kidnapping" as the legal procedures for its transfer were not followed.

However, the president of the Venezuelan Federation of Spiritism defended the act, stating that "from a spiritual point of view, it was the deity herself who authorized the transfer to Yaracuy." This endorsement was not enough to calm the waters, but Nicolasito, sure that he was on the right path, organized a special excursion for October 12, a significant date in the culture of the Mountain of Sorte, where the Queen María Lionza is traditionally honored.

That night, in an atmosphere filled with expectations and mysticism, prominent figures from the functional and military circles of the Miraflores Palace gathered on the Mountain of Sorte to participate in a spiritist session that promised to reveal the regime's fate. Just at midnight, the ceremony began: liquors, tobacco, candles, drums; everything was set to invoke the spirits and secure the Queen's favor. However, what followed was a series of disturbing events that only served to heighten the fear and desperation of those present.

In the midst of the trance, a spiritist, possessed by a "Viking" spirit, began cutting himself with a razor while the drums pounded in the darkness. Suddenly, silence fell over the mountain. An entity from beyond had manifested in the body of the spiritist: "I am Munra. The Immortal," he proclaimed in a deep voice. "I have come to deliver an Oracle." What followed was a ritual that seemed taken from mystical traditions: the spiritist drew a dismembered human body on the ground with white talcum powder and placed red candles in the shape of a cross around each part. Then, he lifted a thick red candle, and after pouring hot wax over his bleeding wounds, rolled his eyes and proclaimed: "This is the Oracle of the Great Mamerto. The Queen María Lionza does not accept the offering that has been given to her. Her anger has been made clear. In this sacred land today it has been written that it will be governed by new people, and among them, one of humble ways."

A sudden gust of wind blew out the candles and filled the attendees with panic. In a final dramatic act, the spiritist extinguished the central candle on his chest and proclaimed: "You are witnessing the fate of the one who rules today and refuses to leave. His parts will be collected, and with difficulty will they be put back together." With these words, he collapsed to the ground in an apparent faint, while a storm began to form over the mountain.

The ceremony ended in chaos, and the attendees from Caracas withdrew with a sense of impending disaster. One of the vice ministers who had overseen the statue's transfer commented to his colleagues that, on the day the statue was installed in Sorte, an elderly woman had approached them to warn that the Queen was displeased. This bad omen was confirmed four days before, on October 8, when the Las Tejerías tragedy in the Aragua state claimed the lives of 65 people due to the floods and landslides caused by Hurricane Julia.

Some reports linked Nicolás Maduro Guerra to illegal nickel mining, which was said to have worsened the disaster caused by the heavy rains. These reports indicated that since July 2022, explosions had been carried out in the highlands of the Laguneta de la Montaña sector in the Miranda State, near the water channels where the streams flow. These activities, far from being purely industrial, were part of a systematic plundering of natural resources that had severely destabilized the region, triggering a natural disaster that not only struck the country's infrastructure but also served as a dark omen for the regime's future.

"Even María Lionza is turning against Maduro," commented a Major General to his wife, who had witnessed the spiritist session. "This is a rebellion with very ominous results," added a Colonel of the National Guard. The signs were clear: Maduro's regime was being rejected not only by the people but also by the mystical forces he had tried to manipulate.

Part III: The Great Mamerto

The aftermath of the spiritist session on the Mountain of Sorte echoed deeply throughout the halls of the Miraflores Palace. What began as a desperate attempt to seek answers through popular rituals transformed into a lingering shadow hanging over the regime. Nicolás Maduro, a man who normally projected invulnerability, began showing visible signs of paranoia. Those around him could not ignore the change in his behavior. A metal pot dedicated to the Yoruba religion, placed near one of the meeting rooms, was quickly removed under the president's direct orders after being subjected to a cleansing ritual by babalawo priests.

However, what disturbed Maduro the most was not the symbolism or the rituals surrounding him but something far more personal and devastating: the constant reference to the "Great Mamerto." This nickname, which initially might have been perceived as a trivial mockery, had taken on an ominous significance in his mind. The phrase from the Hindu monk that continued to echo in his head, "The only thing you will be allowed to decide about what fate has in store for the end of your rule is whether you do it voluntarily because if you try to escape fate, you will be futilely overthrown by betrayal," became a prophecy that haunted him day and night.

Maduro was obsessed with an inevitable betrayal and the fact that his destiny was sealed. This feeling was exacerbated when he recalled an incident two years earlier, in 2020, shortly after appointing Tareck El Aissami as Minister of Petroleum. During a conversation at the White Palace, a Venezuelan Major General jokingly mentioned to a Cuban General that perhaps Maduro could replace the Cubans with the Iranians, alluding to El Aissami's ties with Hezbollah.

The Cuban General, however, responded coldly that this was impossible because Nicolás Maduro was just a "Mamerto." Then, in an unexpected twist, he confessed that in Cuba, the military referred to Maduro as the "Great Mamerto," a nickname that, according to him, had been given to him by the influential Ramiro Valdés, one of the two Historical Commanders of the Cuban Revolution still alive, along with Guillermo García Frías.

Maduro remembered the impact of this revelation, which was not insignificant. Maduro, feeling humiliated, urgently requested a meeting with the Major General to discuss what he had heard. This was no small matter, as Valdés, a historical figure, represented the voice and judgment of a revolutionary generation that had shaped Cuban politics for decades. The fact that Valdés saw him as a "Mamerto," a puppet without real power or influence, was a devastating blow to Maduro's self-esteem, who had always tried to project an image of strength and authority.

To fully understand the meaning of this nickname, it is necessary to explore the term's origin. According to an article by Ramón Fernández Larrea, "Mamerto" in Cuba in the 1960s was a toy figure made up of plastic parts, a grotesque caricature of a human being with interchangeable noses, glasses, and shoes. In Cuba, "Mamerto" became synonymous with someone lacking intelligence, a puppet, a lifeless figure manipulated by others for their own purposes.

Maduro, in his eagerness to demonstrate his power and authority, ended up fully embodying this nickname. He had become the "Great Mamerto," a figure that, far from being a strong and independent leader, was perceived as a puppet manipulated by the forces surrounding him, both inside and outside Venezuela. His authority was increasingly undermined, not only by his enemies but also by those who had once supported him.

Despite all this, Nicolasito still believed he could do something for his father. In his desperation, he turned to Pastor Evelio, an influential evangelical leader, who firmly told him: "All of this is the work of Satan. You need to rid yourself of all that worship and return to Christ." Convinced that this was the answer to all the fatal announcements revealed by figures from other beliefs, Nicolasito organized a meeting with five evangelical pastors in late November 2022. From this meeting emerged a plan of action aimed at reversing the dark fate looming over the regime. Thus, the "Good Shepherd Bonus" was born, a public expression of the offering that had been made privately at the end of 2022.

However, these actions only served to highlight the desperation that enveloped Maduro and his inner circle. The idea that a return to Christian faith could save the regime was a clear sign of the disconnection from reality prevailing in Miraflores. While Maduro clung to any hope, refusing to accept that his destiny was already sealed, the image of the "Great Mamerto" was etched not only in the minds of his enemies but also in those of his own allies, who, like the dictator, were beginning to accept the inevitable: the regime's end was underway, and there was no turning back.

Part IV: shadows in the darkness: the beginning of the regime's fall

As I explained, on March 4, 2023, my article Shadows in the Sunset: The Inexorable Fall of the Venezuelan Regime was published in Meer, marking a turning point in the narrative surrounding Nicolás Maduro's fate. This article, which analyzed the evident signs of decline and the indicators of an inevitable fall, became a warning that was not ignored by the regime, resonating deeply with its top leaders.

Coincidentally, or perhaps not, the next day, on March 5, 2023, Raúl Castro made an unexpected visit to Caracas, accompanied by Ramiro Valdés, whom I mentioned earlier. The visit had a clear motive: the commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the announcement of Hugo Chávez's death. However, beyond the ceremonial appearances, there was a darker and more decisive purpose behind the presence of these two titans of Cuban politics on Venezuelan soil.

During that visit, in a private and tense meeting, Raúl Castro gave a direct order to Nicolás Maduro: to remove Tareck El Aissami, a man who had until then been one of the regime's closest pillars. The accusation of treason against El Aissami was not only a devastating blow to the internal structure of Madurismo but also marked the beginning of an internal collapse that would be impossible to stop.

Maduro, trapped in a labyrinth of superstitions and omens, began to wonder if this betrayal was the one prophesied by the Hindu monk who had warned him of a future filled with betrayals. Despite accepting El Aissami's resignation on March 20, 2023, and his subsequent arrest for corruption in April 2024, the damage was already done. The shadow of collapse was spreading throughout the regime, and the beginning of its fall was becoming increasingly evident, as if the words written in Shadows in the Sunset were coming to life before the incredulous eyes of those who still believed in Maduro's invulnerability.

Part V: The inexorable prophecy

July 28, 2024, will be remembered in Venezuela's history as the day when the prophecy materialized in its most forceful form. Nicolás Maduro's electoral defeat at the hands of Edmundo González was not merely a political event; it was the culmination of a destiny that had been foretold long before. From the Yanomami Shaman's visions to the rituals in the Mountain of Sorte, all signs pointed to this inevitable outcome. The inexorable prophecy began to manifest, not as an isolated event but as the logical consequence of a chain of events that Maduro, in his obstinacy, refused to accept.

The 2024 electoral campaign was fraught with challenges for the regime. The population, exhausted by years of repression, poverty, and corruption, saw in Edmundo González not just a candidate but a beacon of hope for a different future. Pre-election polls already showed a clear trend: the popular will overwhelmingly favored change. But Maduro, clinging to power, underestimated the magnitude of the crisis and, more importantly, underestimated the power of the destiny that pursued him.

On the night of July 28, when the results began to trickle in, the atmosphere in the Miraflores Palace was one of disbelief. Maduro's advisors, who had manipulated elections and repressed the opposition for years, were now facing a reality they could not control. The defeat was clear and irrefutable: Edmundo González had garnered 67% of the vote, leaving Maduro with a humiliating 31%. This result not only reflected widespread discontent but was also the tangible manifestation of the prophecy that had foretold the regime's end since 2022.

The Yanomami Shaman's words echoed more strongly than ever: "What must be, will be." No matter the schemes or desperate attempts by Maduro to stay in power, his fate was already sealed. The betrayal, anticipated by the Hindu monk, began to take shape within the Madurista ranks. As of today, the military, who had been the regime's pillars of support, are beginning to distance themselves, seeing González's victory as an opportunity to negotiate their survival in the new order that looms on the horizon.

Maduro, trapped in his labyrinth of deceptions and superstitions, was confronted with the reality that he had not only lost an election but had also lost the favor of the forces he had tried to manipulate for so long. The deities, the spirits, and even the beliefs he had invoked to ensure his continuity had turned against him, fulfilling the Great Mamerto's prophecy: his defeat was inevitable, and his fate, inescapable.

Thus, Nicolás Maduro's electoral defeat is now the initial manifestation of an inexorable prophecy, one that had been foretold but that he, in his blindness, continues to deny until it is too late. Everyone in Nicolás Maduro's circle believes that July 28, 2024, not only marks the beginning of the end of a regime but also the fulfillment of a destiny that had long been written in the stars.

Part VI: The offer of a pact with Satan

In August 2024, when desperation reached its peak, Nicolás Maduro Guerra, known as "Nicolasito," decided to take an extreme and unprecedented measure. Convinced that the rituals and offerings to various deities had not been enough to change the course of events, he turned his gaze to a source of power that few would dare to invoke: Satan. On August 12, he sent a group of emissaries to the United States on a mission as absurd as it was terrifying: to make a pact with the devil himself.

Liduvina Maspero, one of the emissaries, sought contact with the Church of Satan, led by Peter H. Gilmore, the institution's high priest. In their effort, the envoys were attended by a young priest. With tense and trembling faces, they laid out their proposal: to offer a pact with Satan on behalf of Nicolás Maduro in exchange for maintaining his power over Venezuela. They promised large sums of money, $5 million, to fund all ceremonial aspects, including goat sacrifices and other dark rituals. They had reached the point of believing that only an agreement with the darkest forces could save the regime from the abyss that now seemed inevitable.

The priest was stunned as he listened to these strange requests. However, at the end of the meeting, his response was blunt and disheartening for the emissaries: "Nicolás Maduro does not need to make a pact to sell his soul to Satan in exchange for staying in power in Venezuela. Simply put, his soul already belongs to him." With these words, the priest not only rejected the offer but also laid bare the harsh reality of a regime that had already surrendered its morality and humanity in its struggle for power.

News of this failed pact attempt quickly reached Maduro's ears. The dictator, trapped in his paranoia and superstition, could not believe that even Satan, the most feared entity in all mythologies, had shut the door on him. It was at that moment that his desperation became public: on August 18, Maduro openly accused María Corina Machado and Elon Musk of having made a pact with the Church of Satan to overthrow him. But the ridicule was inevitable. Two days later, the Church of Satan responded to the accusations with a single word that summed up the general sentiment: "Stupid."

This episode not only exposed the regime's fragility but also Maduro's deep disconnection from reality. His desperate attempts to cling to power, even through dark pacts, seem doomed to failure, accelerating his downfall by exposing his vulnerability to the world. Maduro's fate is sealed, and not even a demonic pact seems capable of altering what is already written.

The sunset of the Great Mamerto

"He has defeat etched on his forehead like Cain's mark." These words from Jorge Rodríguez, president of the National Assembly and second in the line of succession behind his sister Delcy, echoed through the halls of power with brutal clarity. It was an inescapable sentence, the ultimate manifestation of the prophecy that had marked Nicolás Maduro's fate since 2022. As the calendar advanced towards 2024, the omens and warnings that had been ignored, distorted, or even ridiculed began to take shape in Venezuela's political reality. The sunset of the Great Mamerto was no longer a mere speculation; it was becoming a fact.

Every person Maduro has faced, whether military, ministers, or his groups of cronies, sees in that same face the indelible mark of defeat. One day, they see it in his dull eyes and his downcast expression; other days, he appears irate and out of control, but always with the heaviness that now burdens his presence. And when they turn away, leaving his presence, only one thought invades them: "He was defeated." Maduro's defeat was not only reflected in the electoral results but also in how his own allies perceive him. Even Lula da Silva, the president of Brazil and once his close ally, felt deep pity at seeing the pathetic state Maduro was in. In a gesture that mixed compassion with desperation, Lula suggested the possibility of calling new elections to try to overcome that pitiful appearance of having been defeated.

Nicolás Maduro, the man who had defied the odds and maintained an iron grip on Venezuela for over a decade, now faces the reality he always feared: his cycle of power is coming to an end, and no ritual, alliance, or pact can reverse it. From the days when the nickname "Great Mamerto" was bestowed upon him by the same Cuban forces that once supported him to the desperate attempts to secure his mandate through offerings and pacts, every step he has taken has only brought him closer to his inevitable downfall.

Nicolasito's attempt to resort to Christian religion through public ceremonies was nothing more than the last effort in a series of desperate actions to change the course of a destiny already written. But the reality is that Maduro's power is eroding even faster due to his actions, weakened by the shadows of betrayals, popular discontent, and his inability to correctly read the signs of the times.

2024 has become the year when all the warnings have materialized. The electoral defeat of July 28 was only the initial blow resulting from a long series of failures and miscalculations. The shadows that began to cast over the regime's sunset are turning into total darkness, enveloping Maduro, isolating him not only from his former allies but also from any possibility of redemption.

Nicolás Maduro's fate has been sealed, not by his enemies' will but by his blindness to the reality unfolding before him. The Great Mamerto, the leader who once pretended to be invincible, will end his mandate not with a final show of strength but with submission to a destiny that, from the beginning, was inevitable. Maduro's downfall will be the culmination of an inevitable process, a sunset that was prophesied and is now materializing in Venezuela's collective memory as a testament to the inexorable force of destiny.

P.S.: As the Major General told Nicolás Maduro, the Cuban General confessed that Ramiro Valdez calls him the Great Mamerto because a Mamerto, the bigger it gets, the “másmuerto" (more dead) it becomes.