Venezuelan President Maduro begins third term amid international protest | News about Nicolas Maduro
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has been sworn in for a third six-year term, despite an outpouring of international condemnation following July’s disputed presidential election.
Before the National Assembly in the capital Caracas on Friday, Maduro was sworn in with a promise that his next term would be a “period of peace”.
But the lead-up to his inauguration was met with protests and accusations of government repression and electoral fraud.
Protesters took to the streets Thursday in Venezuela and other countries with large Venezuelan diasporas, including Spain, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico and El Salvador.
At a rally in Caracas, opposition leader Maria Corina Machado came out of hiding for the first time in months to urge supporters to keep up pressure on Maduro and his government.
After her public appearance, she was briefly detained by security forces, according to her team. Other opposition leaders have been detained or face warrants for their arrest.
The opposition accuses Maduro, 62, of stealing last year’s July 28 election, and the United States, the European Union and several Latin American countries have recognized rival Edmundo Gonzalez Urruti as Venezuela’s legitimate president-elect.
Critics have condemned a new wave of repression ahead of Friday’s ceremony, with several activists and opposition figures arrested in recent days, prompting the UN to express concern.
On Thursday alone, at least 17 protesters were detained, according to a post on the social media platform of X Gonzalo Himioba of the NGO Foro Penal.
Maduro ordered the deployment of thousands of police and soldiers to maintain security ahead of the inauguration, particularly in the capital Caracas.
Armed military personnel guarded the streets, many of which were closed for the ceremony, and traffic was considerably lighter than usual as police manned numerous roadblocks.
