(Reuters) -Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, whose nearly 12 years in office have been marked by deep economic and social crisis, was sworn in for a third term on Friday, despite a six-month-long election dispute, international calls for him to stand aside, and an increase in the U.S. reward offered for his capture.
Maduro, president since 2013, was declared the winner of July’s election by both Venezuela’s electoral authority and top court, though detailed tallies confirming his victory have never been published.
Venezuela’s opposition says ballot box-level tallies show a landslide win for its former candidate Edmundo Gonzalez, who is recognized as president-elect by several countries, including the United States. International election observers said the vote was not democratic.
The months since the election have seen Gonzalez’s flight to Spain in September, his ally Maria Corina Machado going into hiding in Venezuela, and the detentions of high-profile opposition figures and protesters.
Gonzalez has been on a whistle-stop tour of the Americas this week and had promised to return to Venezuela.
But Machado, appearing in a video posted on social media on Friday, said the moment was not right for his return.
“Edmundo will come to Venezuela to be sworn in as constitutional president of Venezuela at the right time,” Machado said. “Today, it isn’t viable for Edmundo to enter Venezuela. I’ve asked him not to do so because his integrity is fundamental for the final defeat of the regime and the transition to democracy, which is very close.”
“Maduro consolidated the coup and the violation of our constitution,” Machado added, calling for street protests. “It’s time to do whatever is necessary to restore it.”
The government, which has accused the opposition of fomenting fascist plots against it, has said Gonzalez will be arrested if he returns and offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to his capture.
“Soon, very soon, whatever they do, we will manage to enter Venezuela and put an end to this tragedy,” Gonzalez said in his own remarks from the Dominican Republic, asking the military to ignore “illegal orders” from Maduro and cease any repression.
In the latest in a series of punitive steps, the outgoing Biden administration increased its reward for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Maduro on drug trafficking charges to $25 million, from a previous $15 million.
It also issued a $25 million reward for Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello and a $15 million reward for Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino, as well as new sanctions against eight other officials including the head of state oil company PDVSA Hector Obregon.
The U.S. indicted Maduro and others on narcotics and corruption charges, among others, in 2020. Maduro has rejected the accusations.
The U.S. move coincided with sanctions by Britain and the European Union, each targeting 15 officials including members of the National Electoral Council and the security forces, and Canadian sanctions targeting 14 current and former officials.
The Maduro government has always rejected all sanctions, saying they are illegitimate measures that amount to an “economic war” designed to cripple Venezuela.
“The outgoing government of the United States doesn’t know how to take revenge on us,” Maduro said during his inauguration speech, without directly mentioning sanctions.
The Venezuelan communications ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the sanctions, while U.S. officials declined to comment on possible further sanctions, including on the oil industry.
Maduro and his allies have cheered what they say is the country’s resilience despite the measures, though they have historically blamed some economic hardships and shortages on sanctions.
Maduro’s inauguration was illegitimate, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement, and the U.S. will not recognize him as president.
“The Venezuelan people and world know the truth – Maduro clearly lost the 2024 presidential election and has no right to claim the presidency,” Blinken said.
Later on Friday, Padrino led members of the armed forces in a separate ceremony, where they swore complete loyalty to Maduro.
DETENTION DETAILS
Both Gonzalez and Machado are being investigated by the attorney general’s office for alleged conspiracy, but only Gonzalez has a public warrant out 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.
Machado said in her Friday video that she was stopped by the police after leaving the march on Thursday, pulled off the motorcycle where she was a passenger and put on another. She said she was later told to film several videos and that she would then be released.
One of the motorcyclists who had been accompanying her was shot and arrested, she said.
One video shared on social media and by government officials showed her sitting on a curb and recounting losing her wallet.
The government scoffed at the incident and denied any involvement, saying it was an opposition attempt to stoke sympathy for Machado.
Some 42 people have been detained for political reasons since Tuesday, judicial NGO Foro Penal said.
Maduro was sworn in at the national assembly in Caracas and said he was taking his oath in the name of sixteenth-century Indigenous leader Guaicaipuro and late President Hugo Chavez, his mentor, among others.
“May this new presidential term be a period of peace, of prosperity, of equality and the new democracy,” Maduro said, adding he would convene a commission dedicated to constitutional reform.
“This act is possible because Venezuela is peaceful, in full exercise of its national sovereignty, of its popular sovereignty, of its national independence,” Maduro said.
Some 2,000 invitees from 125 countries attended the inauguration, according to the government.
Cuba’s President Miguel Diaz-Canel and Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega, staunch allies of Maduro, attended, as did Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of Russia’s lower house of parliament. Bolivian President Luis Arce congratulated Maduro on social media.
ECONOMIC TROUBLES
Venezuela closed its borders and airspace to Colombia for 72 hours starting at 0500 local time (1000 GMT), the foreign ministry in Bogota said in a statement, adding 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 decried increasing repression of opposition political parties, activists and independent media in Venezuela.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has said the country is being run by a dictator.
The Venezuelan government has repeatedly accused the opposition of plotting with foreign governments and agencies including the Central Intelligence Agency to commit acts of sabotage and terrorism.
The government said this week it had detained seven “mercenaries,” including a high-ranking FBI official and a U.S. military official.
In recent years, Venezuela’s economy has experienced 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, among them retired Venezuelans who would like to see their children and grandchildren return to the country, say jobs, inflation and unreliable public services are among their top concerns.
The government, meanwhile, has employed orthodox methods to try to tamp down inflation, with some success. Maduro said this month that the economy grew 9% last year.
(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, Alistair Bell and Rosalba O’Brien)
