Canada imposed new sanctions against 14 Venezuelan officials as President Nicolas Maduro was sworn in Friday for a third six-year term, extending his increasingly repressive rule until 2031.
This is despite protests and credible evidence that his opponent won the election.
Venezuela’s legislative palace, where he took the oath of office and delivered a fiery speech, was heavily guarded by police, army and intelligence services. Crowds of people, many wearing pro-Maduro T-shirts, gathered on side streets and in a nearby square.
Maduro accused the opposition of trying to turn his inauguration into a “world war,” and said the faction’s failure to prevent the inauguration was “a great Venezuelan victory.” He accused outside powers of “attacking” Venezuela, particularly the U.S. government, and promised to guarantee “peace and national sovereignty.”
“Today more than ever, I feel the weight of commitment, the power that I represent, the power that the constitution grants me,” he said. “I was not appointed president by the United States government, nor by the pro-imperialist governments of Latin America.”
The opposition collected tally sheets from more than 80 percent of electronic voting machines after the July 28 election, posted the results online and said they show opposition candidate Edmundo González , won twice as many votes as Maduro. The US-based Carter Center, which observed the elections at the invitation of the government, declared the results published by the opposition legitimate.
Other election experts the government allowed to attend the vote said voting records posted online by the opposition appear to have all the original security features.
Canada, US and EU announce sanctions
On Friday, Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly announced new sanctions against Venezuelan officials. They target 14 current and former senior Venezuelan government officials, “who engaged in activities that directly or indirectly supported human rights violations in Venezuela.” according to a press release.
These include the repression of demonstrations following the elections.
“Maduro’s brazen actions demonstrate that democracy and the rule of law cannot be taken for granted. We will not tolerate the erosion of the democratic process or the repression of citizens who seek to express their rights,” Joly said in a press release. press release.
“Canada has and will continue to stand with the Venezuelan people and their desire to live in a peaceful and democratic society.”
Canada has now imposed sanctions against a total of 131 Venezuelans.
The European Union also imposed sanctions on 15 senior Venezuelan officials who played a role in the 2024 elections, including the president and vice president of Venezuela’s Supreme Court, electoral agency and others. The 27-nation bloc said the officials were endangering national democracy.
The U.S. Treasury Department also imposed a new round of sanctions against Venezuelan officials, including the president of Venezuela’s national oil company, Maduro’s transportation minister and the state-owned airline, among others.
Demonstrations in the streets
On Thursday, as hundreds of anti-Maduro protesters took to the streets of the capital, Caracas, aides to opposition leader María Corina Machado said she was briefly detained by security forces and forced to record videos.
The popular former deputy, who was barred by the government from running for office, emerged from several months of hiding to join the rally to demand that González take the oath of office in Maduro’s place.
Machado addressed the gathering then left on a motorcycle with her security convoy. Machado’s press team later announced on social media that security forces had “violently intercepted” his convoy. His aides confirmed to the Associated Press that the hard-line opponent had been arrested.
Leaders in the Americas and Europe condemned the government for suppressing opposition voices and demanded his release. United States President-elect Donald Trump expressed his support for Machado and González.
“These freedom fighters should not be harmed and MUST stay SAFE and ALIVE!” Trump said on Truth Social.
Maduro supporters denied Machado’s arrest, saying government opponents were spreading fake news to generate an international crisis.
Global condemnation of results
The brouhaha that preceded Maduro’s inauguration added to the litany of allegations of electoral fraud and brutal repression aimed at silencing dissent. Electoral authorities loyal to the ruling party declared Maduro the winner hours after polls closed on July 28, but unlike in previous presidential elections, they did not provide detailed vote counts.
Global condemnation of the lack of transparency prompted Maduro to ask the country’s High Court – also made up of allies from his United Socialist Party of Venezuela – to verify the election results. The court reaffirmed Maduro’s victory without providing extensive evidence and encouraged the electoral board to release the vote tally.
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But neither the council nor the ruling party produced any evidence of Maduro’s victory, even though representatives from their voting centers were also entitled to tally sheets from each voting machine.
The controversy over the results sparked international outrage and nationwide protests. The government responded forcefully, arresting more than 2,000 protesters and encouraging Venezuelans to denounce anyone they suspect of being an adversary of the ruling party. More than 20 people were killed during the unrest and many protesters reported being tortured in custody.
Outside Friday’s inauguration ceremony, Maduro supporters were elated. One of them was Maricarmen Ruiz, 18, who could not hold back her tears.
“I have no words to express my emotion, I am happy,” she said, expressing relief that González had not been “imposed” as president.
González’s brother kidnapped
It is unclear how many heads of state attended Maduro’s swearing-in, hosted by the ruling party-controlled National Assembly. Cameras showed Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua and Miguel Diaz-Canel of Cuba, and Maduro welcomed delegates from what he said included more than 120 countries.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro, a close ally of Maduro, said he would not attend the event, citing the arrests earlier in the week of another longtime Venezuelan opposition member and rights activist. humans.
Maduro’s last inauguration, in 2019, took place in the presence of Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel and then-Bolivian President Evo Morales. The 2018 elections were widely seen as a sham after his government banned the participation of main opposition parties.
And it remains unclear whether González, who went into exile in Spain in September, will keep his promise to return to Venezuela by Friday.
Government officials repeatedly threatened González with arrest if he entered Venezuelan soil. González said Tuesday 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.
“When did being linked to Edmundo González Urrutia become a crime?” she said.
