Maduro is again sworn in as President Venezuela despite criticism

Maduro is again sworn in as President Venezuela despite criticism

The Venezolan President Nicolás Maduro was sworn in despite the opposition protests for a third term. This ceremony took place on Friday in a small hall of the National Assembly and marked a clear difference to the previous celebrations that were held in the main house.

ceremony and speech by Maduro

The swearing -in was carried out by the President of the National Assembly, Jorge Rodríguez, who presented Maduro to the presidential dignity and thus received stormy applause from those present.

"We achieved what we knew that we would achieve it," said Maduro in his first speech after the swearing -in. "The power that was given to me did not come from a foreign government or a foreign president. Nobody in this world can force a president in Venezuela."

support and controversy

The former Bolivian President Evo Morales expressed his support for Maduro and wrote on X that his country welcomed the Venezuelan people who tried again to destabilize his government. "

Maduro was announced on July 28 by the election authorities under strict control as the winner of the presidential election. However, the Venezuelan opposition has published thousands of ballot pensions that claim that its candidate Edmundo Gonzalez had won 30 % against Maduros with 67 %. Independent observers, such as the Carter Center and the Colombian election mission, have recognized the opposition figures as legitimate.

international reactions

Some countries, including the USA, have recognized Gonzalez as a legitimate President of Venezuela. Minutes after Maduro's head of office, the spokesman for the National Security Council of the White House, John Kirby, said that Maduro "once again demonstrated complete disregard for democratic norms and continues today with an illegitimate handover."

González, who has lived in exile since September, had announced that this week to return to Caracas to possibly initiate a last act of resistance to Maduro's inauguration. His current whereabouts were the Dominican Republic on Friday.

criticism and new sanctions

A US official explained that Maduro "is largely alone, with few friends in the region and the world" and that since July 28th there have been numerous calls from the region and the whole world to ask Maduro to respect the democratic norms

protests and security measures

The British government imposed sanctions against 15 people associated with Maduro on Friday, including managers of the Venezuelan armed forces and members of the Supreme Court. The former opposition leader Venezuelas, Juan Guaidó, condemned the handover of the office and explained to X: "President Venezuelas is Edmundo González Urrutia."

In the preparation period for the handover of the office, Venezuela closed his land border and hired the flights to Colombia. The governor of the Venezuelan border state Táchira, Freddie Bernal, claimed that this was a reaction to an "international conspiracy" against Venezuela without providing evidence.

The limit was closed only hours after Colombia had declared not to recognize the results of the elections last summer because they were not free. In Caracas and other Venezuelan cities there were protests in which the opposition leader Maria Corina Machado came out of hiding to speak at an event. Her team reported that she was later "violently stopped", which the Venezuelan government denied.

This story continues to develop and is updated.