Caracas. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was sworn in for a new term on Friday, extending his authoritarian rule amid protests and condemnation from the United States and other nations accusing him of rigging last year’s election.

The heavily guarded legislative palace in Caracas hosted the inauguration, where Maduro delivered a fiery speech. Crowds of supporters, many wearing pro-Maduro T-shirts, gathered in the streets and plazas nearby.

Maduro, likening himself to the biblical David fighting Goliath, accused the US and his opponents of attempting to turn his inauguration into a “world war.” He called his ability to retain power a “great victory” for Venezuela’s peace and sovereignty.

“I have not been made president by the government of the United States, nor by the pro-imperialist governments of Latin America,” Maduro said, draped in a sash bearing 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. To the people, I owe my whole life, body, and soul.”

While government loyalists celebrated, hundreds of Venezuelans took to the streets on Thursday to protest what they called a power grab by Maduro. The protests were largely peaceful, but afterward, security forces reportedly detained María Corina Machado, a prominent opposition leader. Machado, who is barred from running for office, emerged from hiding to join the demonstrations.

On Friday, Machado posted a video recounting her brief detention. She said security forces fired on her convoy, dragged her off a motorcycle, and threatened to imprison her. However, on the way to the military prison, they forced her to record a proof-of-life video denying her detention. She also claimed her motorcycle driver was shot in the leg.

Maduro’s allies dismissed the claims, accusing the opposition of fabricating the incident to spark an international crisis. They pointed to a 20-second video showing Machado stating she had only dropped her purse as evidence she was not detained.

“Today, Maduro didn’t put a sash on his chest. He put a shackle on his ankle, which will tighten every day,” Machado said in a subsequent message.

Maduro did not mention Machado in his inaugural speech.

State TV reported 10 heads of state attended the ceremony. However, many governments worldwide rejected Maduro’s election victory, citing credible evidence that his little-known opponent, Edmundo González, won by a more than two-to-one margin.

The US, Canada, the UK, and the European Union responded on Friday with a coordinated round of sanctions targeting over 20 Venezuelan officials. These included Supreme Court justices, electoral authorities, and senior government officials accused of dismantling democracy.

The Biden administration also extended a special permission allowing 600,000 Venezuelan migrants to stay in the US for 18 months, citing Venezuela’s “severe humanitarian emergency.” Additionally, it increased the reward for Maduro’s arrest on drug trafficking charges to $25 million and placed a $15 million bounty on Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino.

In a video from the Dominican Republic, González thanked Venezuela’s “democratic friends” for their support and condemned Maduro as a dictator. “The people don’t support him, nor does any government that can call itself democratic,” he said, adding he would return to Venezuela when it was safe.

Maduro’s 2018 reelection was widely denounced as fraudulent, with opposition figures barred from running and allegations of ballot tampering. Election observers from the United Nations and the Carter Center later corroborated opposition claims that González had won.

Despite the evidence, electoral authorities declared Maduro the winner, prompting protests across the country. The government responded with mass arrests, killing at least 20 people during the unrest and detaining more than 2,000 demonstrators. Dozens of foreigners, including 10 Americans, were also arrested.

Outside the inauguration, Maduro’s supporters celebrated. Among them was 18-year-old Maricarmen Ruiz, who said, “I’m happy. I don’t have words to express my emotion.” She expressed relief that González had not been “imposed” as president.

Notably absent from the ceremony was Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who boycotted the event after the recent arrest of a Venezuelan opposition figure and human rights defender.

González, who fled to Spain in September, had vowed to return to Venezuela to take the oath of office himself. However, Maduro’s 72-hour closure of Venezuela’s airspace and its border with Colombia made his return nearly impossible.

On Tuesday, González claimed his son-in-law had been kidnapped in Caracas by masked gunmen while taking his children to school. In a statement, González’s daughter, Mariana González de Tudares, accused the government of orchestrating the abduction.

“At what point did being related to Edmundo González Urrutia become a crime?” she said.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was sworn in for a new term on Friday, extending his increasingly authoritarian rule amid protests and condemnation from the United States and other nations accusing him of rigging last year’s election.

The heavily guarded legislative palace in Caracas hosted the inauguration, where Maduro delivered a fiery speech. Crowds of supporters, many wearing pro-Maduro T-shirts, gathered in the streets and plazas nearby.

Maduro, likening himself to the biblical David fighting Goliath, accused the U.S. and his opponents of attempting to turn his inauguration into a “world war.” He called his ability to retain power a “great victory” for Venezuela’s peace and sovereignty.

“I have not been made president by the government of the United States, nor by the pro-imperialist governments of Latin America,” Maduro said, draped in a sash bearing 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. To the people, I owe my whole life, body, and soul.”

While government loyalists celebrated, hundreds of Venezuelans took to the streets on Thursday to protest what they called a power grab by Maduro. The protests were largely peaceful, but afterward, security forces reportedly detained María Corina Machado, a prominent opposition leader. Machado, who is barred from running for office, emerged from hiding to join the demonstrations.

On Friday, Machado posted a video recounting her brief detention. She said security forces fired on her convoy, dragged her off a motorcycle, and threatened to imprison her. However, on the way to the military prison, they forced her to record a proof-of-life video denying her detention. She also claimed her motorcycle driver was shot in the leg.

Maduro’s allies dismissed the claims, accusing the opposition of fabricating the incident to spark an international crisis. They pointed to a 20-second video showing Machado stating she had only dropped her purse as evidence she was not detained.

“Today, Maduro didn’t put a sash on his chest. He put a shackle on his ankle, which will tighten every day,” Machado said in a subsequent message.

Maduro did not mention Machado in his inaugural speech.

State TV reported 10 heads of state attended the ceremony. However, many governments worldwide rejected Maduro’s election victory, citing credible evidence that his little-known opponent, Edmundo González, won by a more than two-to-one margin.

The U.S., Canada, the U.K., and the European Union responded on Friday with a coordinated round of sanctions targeting over 20 Venezuelan officials. These included Supreme Court justices, electoral authorities, and senior government officials accused of dismantling democracy.

The Biden administration also extended a special permission allowing 600,000 Venezuelan migrants to stay in the U.S. for 18 months, citing Venezuela’s “severe humanitarian emergency.” Additionally, it increased the reward for Maduro’s arrest on drug trafficking charges to $25 million and placed a $15 million bounty on Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino.

In a video from the Dominican Republic, González thanked Venezuela’s “democratic friends” for their support and condemned Maduro as a dictator. “The people don’t support him, nor does any government that can call itself democratic,” he said, adding he would return to Venezuela when it was safe.

Maduro’s 2018 reelection was widely denounced as fraudulent, with opposition figures barred from running and allegations of ballot tampering. Election observers from the United Nations and the Carter Center later corroborated opposition claims that González had won.

Despite the evidence, electoral authorities declared Maduro the winner, prompting protests across the country. The government responded with mass arrests, killing at least 20 people during the unrest and detaining more than 2,000 demonstrators. Dozens of foreigners, including 10 Americans, were also arrested.

Outside the inauguration, Maduro’s supporters celebrated. Among them was 18-year-old Maricarmen Ruiz, who said, “I’m happy. I don’t have words to express my emotion.” She expressed relief that González had not been “imposed” as president.

Notably absent from the ceremony was Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who boycotted the event after the recent arrest of a Venezuelan opposition figure and human rights defender.

González, who fled to Spain in September, had vowed to return to Venezuela to take the oath of office himself. However, Maduro’s 72-hour closure of Venezuela’s airspace and its border with Colombia made his return nearly impossible.

On Tuesday, González claimed his son-in-law had been kidnapped in Caracas by masked gunmen while taking his children to school. In a statement, González’s daughter, Mariana González de Tudares, accused the government of orchestrating the abduction.

“At what point did being related to Edmundo González Urrutia become a crime?” she said.

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