Venezuela’s President Maduro begins third term amid international protest

Despite the widespread international outcry following the contested presidential election in July, Venezuela’s president Nicolas Maduro has been sworn in for a third six-year term.

Maduro pledged that his upcoming term would be a “period of peace” while taking the oath of office in the capital Caracas on Friday.

However, demonstrations and accusations of electoral fraud were reported in the days leading up to his inauguration.

Protesters on Thursday took to the streets both in Venezuela and other countries with large Venezuelan diaspora communities, including Spain, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico and El Salvador.

For the first time in a few months, opposition leader Maria Corina Machado urged supporters to continue to pressure Maduro and his administration at the rally in Caracas.

After making a public appearance, her team claimed that she was briefly detained by security forces. Other opposition leaders have been arrested or have been subject to arrest warrants.

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 recognised opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia as Venezuela’s legitimate president-elect.

In the days leading up to Friday’s ceremony, the UN expressed concern over a new wave of repression, with several activists and opposition figures having been detained recently.

Just Thursday, at least 17 protesters were detained, according to a post on the social media platform X by Gonzalo Himiob of the NGO Foro Penal.

In order to ensure security before the inauguration, particularly in the capital of Caracas, Maduro had ordered the deployment of thousands of police and soldiers.

Source: Aljazeera