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Nicolas Maduro has become President of Venezuela for the third time. America has taken action against him after taking oath as President. America has increased the reward against him from $15 million to $25 million.
highlights
- Nicolas Maduro has become President of Venezuela for the third time
- America took action as soon as the President took oath
- America has increased the reward amount on Maduro
Caracas: Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro took oath as President for the third time on Friday, as soon as he took oath, America has indicated that it does not like him at all. America has intensified action against him and increased the reward amount. Maduro, who has been holding the presidency since 2013, was declared the winner of the July elections, but serious questions were raised over his victory. Detailed counts of the election were never made public, while the opposition claimed that their leader Edmundo Gonzalez had won by a landslide.
Gonzalez has been recognized as the elected president by many countries, including the United States, while international observers refused to accept the election process as democratic. After the election, González fled to Spain in September, and his colleague María Corina Machado was forced to go into hiding in Venezuela. During this period many opposition leaders and protesters were detained. The US government accused Maduro of drug trafficking and increased the reward amount against him from $15 million to $25 million. Britain, the European Union and Canada have also imposed new sanctions on Maduro government officials.
Maduro’s taunt on America
Referring to these sanctions during the swearing-in, Maduro said, ‘The outgoing US government does not know how to take revenge from us.’ Venezuela’s Communications Ministry did not respond to a request for comment on the sanctions. Meanwhile, opposition leader Gonzalez has said that he will return to Venezuela and assume the presidency. However, the Maduro government has ordered his arrest and has announced a reward of $100,000 for information on him. Machado, who has been in hiding for a long time, took part in a protest march on Thursday. He was detained here for some time. His party claimed that he was attacked and forced to record the video.
Venezuela remains isolated
Venezuela’s president has blamed US-led sanctions for his country’s economic collapse. His opponents hold corruption and economic mismanagement responsible for this. After taking oath on Friday, he said that his tenure will be a period of peace. He said, ‘This new presidential term will be a period of peace, prosperity, equality and new democracy.’ Most of the Venezuelan media were not allowed inside. They are isolated in the world. Maduro has limited allies left, including Iran, China and Russia. The Presidents of Cuba and Nicaragua were present during his swearing-in.