Caracas — Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, in power since 2013, was sworn in on Friday for a third six-year term despite a global outcry that brought together thousands of people on the eve of the ceremony.
Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who came out of hiding to lead a protest in Caracas on Thursday, was briefly arrested after the rally according to her team, reigniting international condemnation of Maduro’s alleged vote theft and intimidating critics .
The government has denied arresting Machado, but the outspoken Maduro critic has been detained by security forces who intercepted her convoy following an anti-government rally in Caracas, his team said. Witnesses reported gunfire as her motorcycle was forced off the road and she was taken away by force.
FEDERICO PARRA/AFP via Getty Images
On Friday, in front of the authorities, Maduro was sworn in at Venezuela’s legislative palace.
“I swear by Bolivar, by Sucre, by Urdaneta, by Manuela Saez, by the eternal memory of our eternal commander Hugo Chavez… I swear by history, I swear by my life,” Maduro said.
As he did so, the supporters burst into joy.
Trump and other world leaders react to Machado’s detention
In a social media post, President-elect Donald Trump called Machado and Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia – the man who took his place on the ballot and is widely credited with defeating Maduro in the July 28 election – as “freedom fighters”.
They “should not be harmed and SHOULD stay SAFE and ALIVE,” he wrote on his Truth Social network.
During his first term, Trump increased punitive measures against the Maduro government for its undemocratic actions. The sanctions were partly lifted, then reimposed, by his successor President Biden, and could well be tightened during Trump’s next term, which begins in just 10 days.
PEDRO MATTEY/AFP/Getty
Ecuador denounced what it called Maduro’s “dictatorship”, while Spain expressed its “total condemnation” of Machado’s detention, albeit brief.
Colombia, whose left-wing President Gustavo Petro is historically an ally of Maduro, also condemned the “systematic harassment” of Machado, 57.
Right-wing Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Friday denounced “another unacceptable act of repression” in Venezuela, without specifically mentioning Machado.
“The news coming from Venezuela represents a new unacceptable act of repression on the part of the Maduro regime, whose proclaimed electoral victory we do not recognize,” Meloni said in a statement. “We intend to continue working for a democratic and peaceful transition. The legitimate aspirations of the Venezuelan people for freedom and democracy must finally be realized.”
Citing “an international conspiracy to disrupt the peace of Venezuelans,” Freddy Bernal, governor of the border state of Tachira, said the border with Colombia had been closed Friday and would reopen Monday.
Machado, leader of the rebel opposition: “We are not afraid”
Machado earlier delivered a defiant speech to thousands of supporters in central Caracas, sending a message to the government: “We are not afraid.”
Gaby Oraa/Reuters
There was also a demonstration in Paris attended by Ana Corina Sosa, Machado’s daughter, and dozens of supporters.
Opponents of the government have reported a new wave of repression before Maduro’s inauguration, including the arrest of another opposition presidential candidate, the head of a freedom of speech NGO. the press and the son-in-law of Gonzalez Urrutia.
The United Nations expressed concern this week over reports of arbitrary detentions and intimidation.
More than 2,400 people were arrested, 28 killed and about 200 injured during protests that responded to Maduro’s claim of electoral victory last year. Since then, it has maintained a fragile peace through massive military and police deployments and with the help of paramilitary “colectivos” – armed civilian volunteers accused of suppressing protests through a reign of neighborhood terror.
FEDERICO PARRA/AFP/Getty
Former diplomat Gonzalez Urrutia, 75, had announced his intention to travel to Caracas this week to take power, but this plan is unlikely to materialize.
“Wanted” posters offering $100,000 government award because his capture was plastered all over Caracas.
Gonzalez Urrutia has toured internationally to try to pressure Maduro, 62, to relinquish power. This included a stop in Washington to meet Mr Biden, who called for a “peaceful return to democratic rule”.
Maduro has been in power since 2013, following the Death of left-wing enthusiast Hugo Chávezhis political mentor. His re-election in 2018 was also widely dismissed as fraudulent, but he managed to cling to power through a mix of populism and repression, even as the economy imploded.
Maduro enjoys the support of Russia and Cuba, as well as a loyal army, judges and state institutions in a well-established system of political patronage.
Thousands of ruling party loyalists staged a rival protest in central Caracas on Thursday, vowing to prevent any attempts to thwart Maduro’s return to power.