Follow the inauguration in Venezuela live
He assumes a new mandate supported by Daniel Ortega and Díaz-Canel, and representatives of Putin and Xi Jingping
He establishes himself as the “people’s president” and accuses the opposition of orchestrating “a conspiracy never seen before” together with the “empire”
MADRID, 10 (EUROPA PRESS)
The president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, took office this Friday at the headquarters of the National Assembly, thus beginning a third term that will be a “period of peace” but that begins surrounded by controversy after the elections of July 28, in which the opposition denounced fraud in the vote count and claimed victory.
In an act led by the president of the National Assembly, Jorge Rodríguez, Maduro has sworn “by the eternal memory” of former president Hugo Chávez, and by “the historic and noble brave people of Venezuela” that he will fulfill “all the obligations of the Constitution and the laws of the Republic”.
“This new presidential period will be the period of peace, prosperity, equality and the new democracy. I swear it on history, I swear it on my life and so I will comply and we will comply. I swear it,” Maduro said shortly before receiving the presidential sash and the necklace with the key to the ark that keeps the founding text.
The event, which started about two hours earlier than planned, included the signing of the swearing-in certificate by Maduro and the rest of the representatives of the State Powers. Next, the president went up to the speakers’ gallery after hugging the president of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega.
During his speech he established himself as “the people’s president” and assured that he would “never” betray the Venezuelans. “I go forward with the hurricane and volcanic force of a people that wants a homeland, that wants a future, that wants peace. Let no one be confused with the people of Venezuela,” he shouted.
“I have sworn with the strength and commitment demonstrated by all these years of struggle, I came to this same National Assembly, there were other faces and I swore (…) We came devastated, with our souls destroyed, with our souls destroyed for having said goodbye to this life to the immortal, the undefeated, to our beloved commander Hugo Chávez,” he said.
In a plea against the influence of foreign governments, the United States and the Latin American right, Maduro has asserted that he owes it to the people “in their entire life, in body and soul.” “I am not the president, I have not been nor will I ever be, of the oligarchies, of the surnames, of the supremacisms or of the imperialisms,” he said.
In his attacks on the global right and against South American leaders opposed to his regime, Maduro has singled out the Argentine president, Javier Milei, above others, whom he has accused of being “a social sadistic Zionist Nazi” who leads the “extreme right.” “hand in hand with the” North American empire. “He believes that he can impose a president on Venezuela, no one in this world imposes a president on Venezuela,” he said.
He has also assured that “no one respects the weak, the cowards and the faint-hearted”, at which time he directly mentioned the situation in Panama and also in Canada, whose acting Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, he has classified as “the most dragged being.” Regarding former Colombian presidents Álvaro Uribe and Iván Conde, he has accused them of “financing criminal groups with cocaine.”
“A CONSPIRACY NEVER SEEN BEFORE”
Some of his few international allies have attended Maduro’s inauguration ceremony, such as the aforementioned Ortega or the president of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel; as well as the former Honduran president Manuel Zelaya or representatives of the Chinese president, Xi Jingping; or the Russian Vladimir Putin, countries that he has classified as the “older brothers” of Caracas.
In his presence he has taken the opportunity to accuse the opposition of, driven by “the US empire”, carrying out “a conspiracy never seen before” to seize power. Thus, he has questioned Ortega and Díaz-Canel to praise them as figures of “decades of struggle against the permanent conspiracy of the empire.”
“If we are here it is because the Venezuelan State as a whole, exercising its right to self-defense against a global, public, evident, communicational conspiracy of the power of the United States and its satellites and slaves in Latin America and the world, turned the presidential election of Venezuela in a world election,” he lamented.
At this point, he has asserted that “the United States of Europe”, fascism and the oligarchy “are defeated” despite the fact that they try to push Edmundo González — “a new (Juan) Guaidó” — to the presidency. Thus he assured that the opposition had “plans” to take power, but that they have been dismantled by the government.
Looking back at last July, the Venezuelan president has assured that the ruling party went “to an electoral campaign”, while “extremism and fascism went to war.” “We went on the 27th and 28th (July) to a mobilization of votes, a mobilization of the people. They went to prepare for an assault on power,” he accused.
The opposition called demonstrations in much of the country on Thursday to defend González’s victory in the July elections and to denounce the fraud perpetrated by Chavismo, as well as the arrests of opponents over recent months. The march in Caracas was led by dissident leader María Corina Machado, who was briefly detained by the regime.
Maduro’s inauguration has been surrounded by controversy due to complaints from the opposition, to which a large part of the international community has joined. González, for his part, assured that he would also go to Venezuela this Friday to take office, although the last thing known about him is that the day before he was in the Dominican Republic, more than 900 kilometers away.
VENEZUELA “ALREADY IS OF THE BRICS” AND HAS TO “SAVE CELAC”
Among his promises for the new mandate, Maduro has stressed the importance of strengthening the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), an organization founded in 2011 and that in some way fulfills “Simón Bolívar’s dream” of uniting the countries of the South American continent.
“We have the great mission of saving CELAC from the intrigue of fascism, Zionism, divisionism, blackmail and Yankeeism,” said the Venezuelan president, who has replicated Chávez’s words about the “diversity” of the continent, but at its meeting point around the figure of Bolívar.
Likewise, he has advocated moving towards a future in a “new pluripolar and multicentric world” hand in hand with the BRICS bloc, of which he assures that Venezuela is already a part, although Brazil – one of the founders of the group – vetoed his entry alluding to the loss of confidence in Caracas due to what happened after the elections.
“Venezuela is already part of the BRICS. Venezuela has been part of the BRICS since Bolívar triumphed in Junín, since Sucre triumphed in Ayacucho. We have been part of the BRICS for 200 years, because we are from the world that is pushing for a new history, and that We are achieving a new history in this 21st century,” he stated.
Finally, he has advocated “articulating and strengthening” the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA), “rebuilding” the Petrocaribe alliance with States of the Caribbean region, “saving the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States from divisional fascism.” (CELAC).