Venezuelan President Maduro is sworn in amid election protests and the arrest of opposition leader Maria Corina Machado

US President Donald Trump issues a warning to Venezuelan President Maduro

Caracas Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, in power since 2013, was sworn in for a third term on Friday despite a global outcry that led to thousands turning out in protest on the eve of the ceremony. Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who came out of hiding to lead a demonstration in Caracas on Thursday, was briefly detained after the march according to her team, drawing international condemnation of Maduro’s alleged vote-stealing and intimidation of his critics.

The government denied arresting Machado, but he has been an outspoken critic of Maduro The security forces who intercepted her arrested her A caravan after an anti-government rally in Caracas, her team said. Eyewitnesses reported gunfire when her motorcycle was forced off the road and forcibly taken away.

Trump and other world leaders react to Machado’s arrest

In a social media post, President-elect Donald Trump described Machado and Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia — the man who took her place on the ballot and who is widely accepted to have defeated Maduro in the July 28 election — as “freedom fighters.”

“They should not be harmed, and should remain safe and alive.” books On his real social network.

During his first term, Trump tightened punitive measures against the Maduro government for its anti-democratic actions. The sanctions were partially lifted, then reimposed, by his successor, President Biden, and may be tightened during Trump’s next term, which begins in just 10 days.

Ecuador denounced what it called “Maduro’s dictatorship,” while Spain expressed “full condemnation” of Machado’s arrest, albeit briefly.

Colombia, whose leftist president Gustavo Petro is considered a historical ally of Maduro, condemned the “systematic harassment” of Machado (57 years old).

Right-wing Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Friday denounced “another unacceptable act of repression” in Venezuela, without specifically mentioning Machado.

“The news from Venezuela represents another unacceptable act of repression by the Maduro regime, whose declared electoral victory we do not recognize,” Meloni said in a statement. He added: “We intend to continue working for a democratic and peaceful transition. The legitimate aspirations for freedom and democracy of the Venezuelan people must finally be realized.”

Freddy Bernal, governor of the border state of Tachira, referred to an “international conspiracy to destabilize peace in Venezuela” and said the border with Colombia was closed on Friday and would reopen on Monday.

Defiant opposition leader Machado: ‘We are not afraid’

Machado had earlier delivered a challenging speech to thousands of supporters in central Caracas, sending a message to the government: “We are not afraid.”

There was also a protest in Paris attended by Machado’s daughter, Ana Corina Sosa, and dozens of supporters.

Government opponents reported a new wave of repression before Maduro was sworn in, including the arrest of another opposition presidential candidate, the head of a press freedom NGO, and González Urrutia’s son-in-law.

The United Nations expressed concern this week about reports of arbitrary detention and intimidation.

More than 2,400 people were arrested, 28 were killed, and about 200 others were injured in the protests that coincided with Maduro announcing his victory in the elections last year. It has since maintained a fragile peace through large-scale army and police deployments and with the help of paramilitary “groups” — armed civilian volunteers accused of suppressing protests through a reign of terror in neighborhoods.

Former diplomat Gonzalez Urrutia, 75, had expressed tentative plans to travel to Caracas this week to take power, but the plan is unlikely to move forward.

“Wanted” posters offer a A government reward of $100,000 His arrest has been plastered all over Caracas.

Gonzalez Urrutia is on an international tour seeking to increase pressure on Maduro (62 years old) to relinquish power. The visit included a stop in Washington to meet with Biden, who called for a “peaceful transition to democratic rule.”

Maduro has been in power since 2013, following the coup Leftist leader Hugo Chavez diesHis political mentor. His re-election in 2018 was also widely dismissed as a fraud, but he managed to cling to power through a combination of populism and repression, even as the economy collapsed.

Maduro enjoys the support of Russia and Cuba, as well as a loyal army, judges and state institutions in an established political patronage system.

Thousands of ruling party loyalists held a rival demonstration in central Caracas on Thursday, vowing to block any attempt to thwart Maduro’s return to office.