Nicolas Maduro took the oath of office for a third term as Venezuela's president today in a small ceremony, prompting more condemnation from countries that reject his claim to the title.
Cuban president Miguel Diaz-Canel arrived in Venezuela ahead of the 45-minute ceremony, held in a side room at the national assembly. Maduro promised a "term of peace" in brief comments. Only state media was allowed to film the event, which was much smaller than his past two inaugurations.
Opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez, who has international support for his claim that he won the July presidential election, had said he would try to enter Venezuela from forced exile to claim the office.
The outgoing administration of President Joe Biden marked Maduro's inauguration by upping the bounty on him to $25mn, related to a criminal case filed by US federal prosecutors for the Venezuelan leader's alleged involved in drug trafficking.
"It is clear to the Venezuelan people, the United States and most of the world that Edmundo Gonzalez should be sworn in today as Venezuela's next president," a senior US official said.
But the Biden administration will not formally recognize Gonzalez as his country's legitimate leader — a decision that could have given him a say in managing some of Venezuela's foreign assets, including in the US.
"At this juncture, the US currently recognizes the democratically elected 2015 National Assembly as a legitimate government of Venezuela," the US official said.
The US also imposed sanctions on PdV president Hector Andres Obregon — another complication for PdV's foreign partners.
To constrain foreign revenue sources for Maduro's government, the US administration would continue to approve requests to seize Venezuelan sovereign assets in foreign countries to satisfy Caracas' debts, the US official said.
The most prominent of those cases is moving through a US federal court in Delaware, where Venezuela's creditors are close to finalizing the sale of PdV-owned US refiner Citgo.
But the Biden administration is not looking to revoke a license it granted in 2022, allowing Chevron to import into the US cargoes of oil produced in its joint venture with PdV — some 200,000 b/d last year.
Chevron's authorization "is a policy that we have been reviewing here at the highest levels for some time," the US official said. "One of the things that has driven our policy all along is a commitment to use strategic pressure on Maduro and his authorities when that is appropriate and will have proportionate impact."
The Biden team has held discussions with the incoming administration of president-elect Donald Trump on Venezuela, the official said. "Depending on the events that we see unfold in the next 10 days, we are ready to make a set of recommendations to the incoming administration with respect to the future of" licenses granted to Chevron and for some other foreign companies to operate in Venezuela.
Terms of peace
The inauguration drew other international actions.
Israel recognized Gonzalez as president of Venezuela today, describing Maduro as an "ally of Iran", adding its name to the long list of countries that do not recognize Maduro as president.
The EU also announced it was sanctioning another 15 Venezuelan nationals, including supreme court head magistrate Caryslia Rodriguez, who attended the ceremony today. There are now 70 Venezuelans, including military and civilian, present and former officials, under EU sanction.
Venezuela's response to the condemnation has been to increase military and policy control in Caracas, arrest protesters and threaten to "neutralize" any aircraft carrying Gonzalez in its airspace.
Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was also briefly held on Thursday after emerging from several months of hiding to lead an anti-Maduro rally, her allies said.
