Venezuelan President Nicolas Madurowhose nearly 12 years in office were marked by a deep economic and social crisis, was sworn in on Friday for a third term, despite a six-month electoral conflict, international calls for his sidelining and an increase in voice in the United States. reward offered for his capture.
Maduro, president since 2013, was declared the winner of the July elections by both Venezuela the electoral authority and the supreme court, although detailed tallies confirming his victory have never been published.
Venezuela’s opposition says poll results show a landslide victory for its former candidate Edmundo Gonzalez, recognized as president-elect by several countries, including the United States. International election observers said the vote was undemocratic.
The months following the election saw Gonzalez’s flight to Spain in September, the flight of his ally Maria Corina Machado to Venezuela and the arrest of high-profile opposition figures and protesters.
In the latest in a series of punitive measures, the outgoing Biden administration increased its reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest or conviction on drug trafficking charges to $25 million, up from $15 million .
He also placed a $25 million reward on Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello and a $15 million reward on Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino, as well as new sanctions against eight other officials, including the head of the national oil company PDVSA, Hector Obregon.
The United States indicted Maduro and others on drug trafficking and corruption charges, among other charges, in 2020. Maduro has denied those accusations.
The U.S. move coincided with sanctions from Britain and the European Union each targeting 15 officials, including members of the National Electoral Council and security forces, and Canadian sanctions targeting 14 current and former officials.
The Maduro government has consistently rejected all sanctions, calling them illegitimate measures amounting to “economic war” intended to cripple Venezuela.
“The outgoing government of the United States does not know how to take revenge on us,” Maduro said during his inauguration speech, without directly mentioning sanctions.
Venezuela’s Communications Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the sanctions.
Maduro and his allies have praised what they see as the country’s resilience despite the measures, even as they have historically blamed some economic difficulties and shortages on sanctions.
Gonzalez, who made a whirlwind tour of the Americas this week, said he would return to Venezuela to assume the role of president, but gave no details.
The government, which accused the opposition of fomenting fascist plots against it, said Gonzalez would be arrested if he returned and offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to his capture.
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Opposition leaders Gonzalez and Machado are each expected to speak later Friday.
Both are under investigation by the attorney general’s office for alleged conspiracy, but only Gonzalez has a public warrant for his arrest.
Machado’s first public appearance since August at an anti-government march in Caracas on Thursday was marred by a brief detention.
Her political movement Sale Venezuela said shots were fired and Machado was knocked off the motorcycle she was leaving the event on. She was then detained and forced to film several videos, according to the statement.
A video shared on social media and by government officials showed her sitting on a sidewalk and talking about losing her wallet.
The government mocked the incident and denied any involvement.
Since Tuesday, some 42 people have been arrested for political reasons, said the legal NGO Foro Penal.
Maduro was sworn in at the National Assembly in Caracas and said he was taking the oath in the name of 16th-century indigenous leader Guaicaipuro and the late President Hugo Chavez, his mentor, among others.
“May this new presidential term be a period of peace, prosperity, equality and new democracy,” Maduro said, adding that he would convene a commission dedicated to constitutional reform.
“This act is possible because Venezuela is peaceful, in the full exercise of its national sovereignty, its popular sovereignty, its national independence,” Maduro said.
Some 2,000 guests from 125 countries attended the inauguration, according to the government.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel and Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, Maduro’s loyal allies, were present, as was Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of the lower house of the Russian parliament.
Venezuela closed its borders and airspace with Colombia for 72 hours from 5:00 a.m. local time (10:00 GMT), the Foreign Ministry in Bogota said in a statement, adding that the border on the Colombian side would remain open.
The opposition, non-governmental organizations and international bodies such as the United Nations have for years denounced the growing repression against opposition political parties, activists and independent media in Venezuela.
United States President-elect Donald Trump has said the country is run by a dictator.
At the same time, the government has repeatedly accused the opposition of conspiring with foreign governments and agencies, including the Central Intelligence Agency, to commit acts of sabotage and terrorism.
The government said this week it had arrested seven “mercenaries,” including a senior FBI official and a U.S. military official.
Venezuela’s economy has suffered a prolonged crisis marked by triple-digit inflation and the exodus of more than 7 million migrants seeking better opportunities abroad.
Many of Machado’s supporters, including retired Venezuelans who would like to see their children and grandchildren return to the country, say that employment, inflation and unreliable public services are among their main concerns.
The government, for its part, has used orthodox methods to try to curb inflation, with some success. Maduro said this month that the economy grew 9% last year.
Around 2,000 people were arrested during protests following the elections. The government announced this week that it had released 1,515 of them.
Gonzalez, 75, said his son-in-law was kidnapped Tuesday while taking his children to school.
–Reporting by Oliver Griffin and Julia Symmes Cobb in Bogota, Matt Spetalnick in Washington and Marianna Parraga and Gary McWilliams in Houston Writing by Oliver Griffin and Julia Symmes Cobb Editing by Daniel Wallis and Alistair Bell