Presidents Emmanuel Macron of France and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil were reported Friday to have spoken on the telephone with Veenezuela's Nicolás Maduro to persuade him to resume talks with the opposition after being inaugurated for a third consecutive six-year term following the controversial July 28, 2024, elections.
Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia, for many the legitimate winner of the July 28, 2024, elections even after Nicolás Maduro's inauguration for a new six-year term, said he was close to return to the country and called on the Armed Forces to disregard illegal orders from the Bolivarian de facto regime.
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said Nicolás Maduro carried out a coup d'état by swearing in as President on Friday instead of Edmundo González Urrrutia who failed to return to Caracas for the occasion as he had promised.
The British Government Friday slapped additional sanctions on 15 members of Nicolás Maduro's regime in a move to encourage Venezuelan officials to respect democratic principles, to comply with international human rights law, and to respect human rights, the Foreign Office announced. London also denounced the Bolivarian leader's illegitimate claim to the presidency following the fraudulent July 28, 2024, elections.
Nicolás Maduro was sworn in Friday for the 2025-2031 term after being declared the winner of the controversial July 28, 2024, elections. During a ceremony at the Elliptical Hall of the Federal Legislative Palace, Maduro took his oath upon a copy of the Venezuelan Constitution signed by the late Bolivarian leader Hugo Chávez.
Uruguay's Foreign Ministry issued a statement this week advising against traveling to Venezuela, where “arbitrary detentions and kidnappings” by authorities and paramilitary groups are known to have been occurring. There is even a Uruguayan national among those missing, Montevideo insisted.
Venezuelan opposition leader, María Corina Machado, was intercepted and detained this Thursday in Caracas in the middle of a demonstration called by the opposition on the eve of the inauguration for the 2025-2031 term of Nicolás Maduro, even though there is no evidence to support his victory in the July 28 Presidential elections. However, the situation surrounding Machado remains unclear after the circulation of different versions that ratify her freedom after the violent episode.
Guyanese authorities expressed their regret this week that Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro intends to hold elections for the position of Governor of the disputed territory of Guyana Essequiba because the move would be in violation of what was arranged between the two countries in the Dec. 14, 2023, Argyle Agreement.
Argentina's Security Minister Patricia Bullrich insisted Wednesday that the upcoming South American U-20 Football Championship scheduled to be played in Venezuela should be held somewhere else given the insecurity the Bolivarian regime of President Nicolás Maduro would represent to the Argentine delegation as well as others, considering last month's arrest of Border Guard (Gendarmería Nacional) First Corporal Nahuel Gallo who was charged with espionage for planning to kill Executive Vice President Delcy Roldríguez.
Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia called off his agenda in the United States Tuesday after announcing that his son-in-law Rafael Tudares had been abducted by Nicolás Maduro's Bolivarian regime. Both Maduro and González Urrutia claim to have won the controversial July 28, 2024, elections and said they intend to be sworn in for the 2025-2031 term on Friday.