Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro has been sworn in for a third presidential term despite the protests of the country’s opposition movement, capping more than five months of dispute over last summer’s contested election,
CNN reports.
The ceremony took place on Friday in a small room of the National Assembly, a marked difference from previous ceremonies held in the building’s main hall.
Maduro was proclaimed winner of the country’s presidential election on July 28, by electoral authorities under the tight control of the ruling Socialist Party.
But Venezuela’s opposition published thousands of voting tallies claiming that their candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez, had actually won the vote with 67% against Maduro’s 30%.
Independent observers such as the Carter Center and the Colombian Electoral Mission, as well as CNN’s own analysis, have found the opposition tallies to be legitimate. And several nations, including the United States, have since recognized Gonzalez as Venezuela’s rightful president-elect.
González, who has been in exile since September with a bounty on his head by Venezuelan authorities, had pledged to return to Caracas this week in a potential last challenge to Maduro’s inauguration. His last known location on Friday was the Dominican Republic, where he had recently met with regional leaders.
Ahead of the inauguration, Venezuela closed its land border and suspended flights to Colombia – a move that Freddie Bernal, the governor of the Venezuelan border state of Tachira claimed was in reaction to a “international conspiracy” against Venezuela in an Instagram post. He did not provide proof for his claim.
