With his wife standing faithfully at his side, Nicolás Maduro took the oath of office for his third term as Venezuela’s president.
Behind barricades, angry Venezuelans protested his increasingly repressive rule over the embattled South American nation.
Despite the global outcry for him to step aside, Maduro remains unmoved.
The election that granted him his highly contested victory was marred by allegations of voter fraud. The Opposition said its candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez, won 70% of the votes, but Elvis Amoroso, head of Venezuela’s National Electoral Council, said Maduro secured 51% of the votes, overcoming Gonzalez, who garnered 44%.
Goldwyn warns Venezuela elections may fall short of international standards
Protesters took to the streets on Thursday as Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado emerged from hiding to join them in condemning Maduro’s presidency. Machado was later detained, allegedly by government forces.
She took to X after being released.
“Thank you, thank you, to all the citizens who took to the streets to claim our victory on July 28th and to collect it! My heart goes out to the Venezuelan who was shot when the regime’s repressive forces detained me. I am now in a safe place and more determined than ever before to continue with you until the end,” she wrote.
For the past decade, Venezuela has been engulfed in an economic collapse that has forced nearly one-third of its population out of the country. Western sanctions have further damaged its oil industry.
Many believe that an opposition victory could have brought 25 years of socialist rule to an end.
