Venezuela’s Maduro sworn in amid outrage over alleged election theft
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President, who has led country in an increasingly repressive direction since 2013, has failed to provide proof he won vote. Venezuela’s authoritarian president, Nicolás Maduro, has been sworn in for a third term despite domestic outrage and a chorus of international condemnation at his alleged theft of last year’s election.
“This is a great victory for Venezuelan democracy,” the 62-year-old autocrat boasted during a sparsely attended oath-taking ceremony in Caracas that the leaders of most democratic nations boycotted. Maduro, who has led Venezuela in an increasingly repressive direction since being democratically elected in 2013, has failed to produce any proof that he won the 28 July vote. His opponents have published detailed evidence that their candidate, Edmundo González, was the actual winner thanks to widespread public anger at Venezuela’s economic collapse.
But on Friday morning, it was Maduro – who has refused to relinquish power and been backed by military and security chiefs – who had Venezuela’s yellow, blue and red presidential sash draped over his shoulders at the national assembly. Among those who skipped the event in protest were the leftwing presidents of Brazil and Colombia, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Gustavo Petro, longstanding regional allies who have refused to recognize Maduro’s claim to victory.
