Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was sworn in on Friday for a third six-year term, extending his increasingly repressive rule until 2031 despite widespread protests and credible evidence that opposition candidate Edmundo González won the election.
The swearing-in ceremony took place at Venezuela’s legislative palace, which was under heavy security provided by police, military personnel, and intelligence officers. Supporters of Maduro, many wearing pro-Maduro T-shirts, gathered in the streets and a nearby plaza to celebrate the occasion.
Standing before officials, Maduro invoked historical figures, including his predecessor Hugo Chávez, as he took the oath of office. “I swear by history, I swear by my life,” Maduro declared, prompting enthusiastic cheers from the gathered crowd.
One of those cheering was 18-year-old Maricarmen Ruiz, who shed tears of joy during the ceremony. “I don’t have words to express my emotion, I’m happy,” she said. She also voiced her relief that opposition leader Edmundo González had not been “imposed” as president instead of Maduro.
The opposition maintains that the July 28 election was fraudulent. After the election, opposition leaders collected tally sheets from over 80% of the electronic voting machines, published the results online, and asserted that they showed González received twice as many votes as Maduro.
On Thursday, a day before the inauguration, hundreds of anti-Maduro protesters took to the streets of Caracas to demand González’s recognition as the legitimate winner. During the protests, opposition leader María Corina Machado, who had emerged from months of hiding, was reportedly detained briefly by security forces. Machado’s aides claimed she was coerced into recording videos during her detention.
The popular former lawmaker, who has been barred by the government from running for office, had joined the rally to support González. She addressed the crowd before leaving on a motorcycle with her security convoy. Later, Machado’s press team announced on social media that her convoy had been “violently intercepted” by security forces. Her aides confirmed that she was detained before being released.
The incident sparked condemnation from leaders across the Americas and Europe, who criticised the Maduro government for its suppression of opposition voices and demanded Machado’s immediate release. U.S.
President-elect Donald Trump also voiced his support for Machado and González. “These freedom fighters should not be harmed, and MUST stay SAFE and ALIVE!” Trump declared on Truth Social.
Maduro’s supporters, however, denied that Machado had been arrested, accusing the opposition of spreading “fake news” to generate an international crisis.
The controversy surrounding Machado’s detention came amid a broader outcry over allegations of electoral fraud and repression under Maduro’s government. Venezuela’s electoral authorities, who are loyal to the ruling party, declared Maduro the winner just hours after polls closed on July 28. However, unlike previous elections, they did not release detailed vote counts.
Amid mounting global condemnation over the lack of transparency, Maduro requested the country’s high court—composed of his allies in the United Socialist Party of Venezuela—to audit the election results. The court reaffirmed Maduro’s victory but failed to provide substantive evidence and called on the electoral council to release the vote tallies. Despite this, neither the council nor the ruling party produced proof of Maduro’s victory.
The U.S.-based Carter Center, which had observed the election at the government’s invitation, confirmed the legitimacy of the opposition’s published tallies. Other election experts who had been allowed to witness the vote also stated that the polling records published by the opposition appeared to have all the original security features intact.
The disputed election triggered nationwide protests and international outrage. Authorities responded with force, arresting more than 2,000 demonstrators and encouraging citizens to report anyone suspected of opposing the ruling party. More than 20 people were killed during the unrest, and many protesters reported being tortured while in custody.
During his inauguration speech, Maduro defended his government, insisting that it had “complied with the constitution” despite widespread evidence of electoral fraud. He accused external powers, particularly the US, of interfering in Venezuela’s affairs.
“Today more than ever I feel the weight of commitment, the power that I represent, the power that the constitution grants me,” Maduro said. “I have not been made president by the government of the United States, nor by the pro-imperialist governments of Latin America.”
The ceremony, hosted by the ruling party-controlled National Assembly, was attended by some international delegates, including Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega and Cuba’s President Miguel Díaz-Canel. Maduro claimed representatives from more than 120 nations were present, although it remains unclear how many heads of state attended.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro, a close ally of Maduro, declined to attend the event, citing the detention earlier in the week of another opposition member and a human rights defender.
Maduro’s previous inauguration in 2019 had also faced scrutiny, as the 2018 election was widely dismissed as a sham after the government barred major opposition parties from participating. That event was attended by leaders including Cuba’s Díaz-Canel and then-Bolivian President Evo Morales.
Meanwhile, the fate of Edmundo González remains uncertain. The opposition leader, who fled to Spain in September, had pledged to return to Venezuela by Friday, but government officials have repeatedly threatened him with arrest if he sets foot in the country.
On Tuesday, González claimed that his son-in-law, Rafael Tudares, had been kidnapped in Caracas. González’s daughter, Mariana González de Tudares, suggested in a statement that the government was behind her husband’s disappearance.
“At what point did being related to Edmundo González Urrutia become a crime?” she asked.
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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