Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro was sworn in for a third presidential term in what the country’s opposition movement has characterized as a “coup d’etat,” ending more than five months of disagreement over last summer’s controversial poll.
The event took place on Friday in a small room of the National Assembly, unlike prior ceremonies, which were held in the main hall.
Maduro was sworn in by National Assembly leader Jorge Rodríguez, who placed the presidential sash on him, resulting in a tremendous ovation from the audience.
“We’ve achieved what we knew we would achieve,” Maduro said during his first speech after bein g sworn in.
“The power given to me was not given by a foreign government, a foreign president or a gringo government,” Maduro said at the event, which saw Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and Cuba’s Miguel Diaz-Canel in attendance. “No one in this world can impose a president in Venezuela.”
China and Russia also sent representatives, with Russia’s State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin seen arriving late on a state media broadcast after the ceremony began ahead of schedule.
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 has published thousands of voting tallies claiming that their candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez, had actually won the vote with 67% against Maduro’s 30%.
