Nicolas Maduro: "I Come From The People"

"[Venezuela sets a] dangerous precedent [for democracies in the hemisphere]."

"[Showing that] in the 21st century, an important country in Latin America can disregard the will and sovereignty of the people and remain in a de facto government."

Carolina Jimenez Sandoval, president, Washington Office on Latin America 

"Maduro has violated the Constitution, and the sovereign will of Venezuelans expressed on July 28." "He carried out a coup d’état and crowned himself a dictator."

Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González, in exile in Spain

"[With his inauguration] they decided to cross the red line [and] they stomp on our constitution."

"Today, Maduro did not put the presidential band on his chest, he put it on his ankle like a shackle that would tighten more every day."

Fellow opposition leader Maria Corina Machado

Nicolas Maduro on the day of his inauguration for a third six-year term at a military academy in Caracas, Venezuela on January 10.   Leonardo Fernandez Viloria/Reuters

The 'man of the people' who claims he represents the will of the ordinary Venezuelan in reclaiming the presidency of the country for a third six-year term Friday, is prepared to continue the authoritarian rule that he and his predecessor, Hugo Chavez, imposed upon Venezuela, ruining its democratic nature, its economy, devastating its society, all the while claiming that their version of governance is what the people of Venezuela demanded of them, and continue to. Venezuelans who are so happy with their lot under this government that they've departed in massive numbers to find refuge elsewhere from the ruinous governance that has devastated their country.

The United States, along with a number of other countries, rejected the claim that the latest election was handily won by the sitting president, recognizing opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez as the true president-elect of Venezuela. Without so much as providing evidence of having won this latest sham of an election, Maduro claimed electoral victory. This election was a replay of previously fraudulent elections in the country. But for the first time the opposition was able to provide evidence of its own claim to victory.

Opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez was forced by Maduro to go into exile. Currently, there is no indication that it would be safe for him to return to Venezuela, much less take up his duly elected position as the country's new president. Maduro's government has threatened, should he return, to detain him, having issued a $200,000 reward for his arrest. During the months leading up to the election the military aided Maduro's campaign of fear and repression. Over 1,700 political figures were arrested and remain prisoners.

Maria Corina Machado, just prior to Maduro's inauguration to a new six-year term, revealed that she had been detained briefly by "the repressive forces of the regime", upon leaving an opposition rally in Caracas. Observers spoke of the election as representing the largest electoral fraud in recent Latin American history where voting centre receipts collected by the opposition and verified by the Washington Post along with independent election observers indicate clearly that Gonzalez likely beat Maduro in a landslide.

Gonzalez vows he will return to Venezuela. The Biden administration announced it plans to continue to place pressure on the Maduro government with new sanctions and other allied measures. The bounty offered for information leading to Maduro's arrest and conviction for U.S. indictments on conspiracy and narcotics charges increased from its current $15 million to $25 million. 

 

"I come from the people. The power I represent belongs to the people and I owe it to the people", Maduro said during his third-term inauguration.

Anti-government demonstrators shout slogans as supporters of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro ride past on motorcycles during an opposition protest on the eve of Maduro's inauguration, in Caracas on Thursday.   Pedro Mattey/AFP/Getty Images