00:00This is Sri Sathya Sai Baba and this is Nicolas Maduro, seated right next to his feet.
00:05How did a man raised Catholic come to follow Sai Baba? Let's decode it for you.
00:08Maduro is reported to have been introduced to the Godman through his wife, Cilia Flores,
00:12a lawyer and a long-time devotee. Flores brought Maduro to India in 2005,
00:16before they were married by their couple met Sai Baba. And this picture is from the same visit.
00:20According to visitors to Venezuela's presidential palace, a large portrait of Sai Baba hangs in
00:24Maduro's office alongside Simon Bolivar and Hugo Chavez. After Sai Baba's death in April 2011,
00:30Maduro, then Venezuela's foreign minister, reportedly pushed the National Assembly to pass an
00:34official condolence resolution. Under the Maduro regime, the Sathya Sai organization has continued
00:38to operate in Venezuela, even as several other foreign NGOs face restrictions. Media reports
00:43have also linked public figures such as Sachin Tindulkar, Aishwarya Raya Bachchan and N. Chandra Babu
00:47Naidu to Sri Sathya Sai Baba. Sai Baba faced allegations of sexual coercion involving some disciples,
00:53allegations his organization denied and which never led to a formal complaint.
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