Venezuela’s Maduro takes new oath amid protests and international rebuke

Venezuelan President Maduro sworn in amid protests and international condemnation over disputed election results.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was sworn in for a new term on Friday (January 10, 2025), amid renewed protests and rebukes from the United States and others who believe he stole last year's vote.

Venezuela’s legislative palace, where he was sworn in and delivered a fiery speech, was heavily guarded by security forces who have become Mr. Maduro's main hold on power since last summer's disputed election. Crowds of people, many sporting pro-Maduro T-shirts, gathered in adjacent streets and a nearby plaza.

Also Read | What is the controversy regarding Venezuela elections? | Explained

Mr. Maduro, likening himself to a biblical David fighting Goliath, accused his opponents and their supporters in the U.S. of trying to turn his inauguration into a “world war.” He said his enemies' failure to block his inauguration to a third six-year term was “a great victory" for Venezuela's peace and national sovereignty.

“I have not been made president by the government of the United States, nor by the pro-imperialist governments of Latin America,” he said, after being draped with a sash in the red, yellow and blue of Venezuela’s flag. “I come from the people, I am of the people, and my power emanates from history and from the people. And to the people, I owe my whole life, body and soul.”

The backslapping among government insiders in downtown Caracas on Friday contrasted sharply with the hundreds of Venezuelans who took to the streets Thursday to protest Maduro’s power grab.

The protest took place in relative calm but after it ended, aides to the popular former lawmaker María Corina Machado — the driving force behind what’s left of Venezuela’s Opposition — said she was briefly detained by security forces. Machado, whom the government has barred from running for office, emerged from months of hiding Thursday to join rally against Mr. Maduro.