VENEZUELA
Swearing In and Around
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was sworn in by the country’s supreme court Thursday, after winning re-election in May in a vote that the United States, Canada and a dozen Latin American nations decried as a farce.
No doubt there was a lot of swearing going on elsewhere, too, though at the official ceremony Maduro was cheered on by loyal officials and flag-waving children, the Associated Press reported.
Outside the court, heightened security, and a visible police presence, on the streets of Caracas, ensured that the inauguration ran smoothly, NPR said, while some of the supposed supporters were probably state workers who were obliged to turn up and cheer.
Maduro is widely blamed for skyrocketing inflation and shortages of food and medicines, and five Latin American countries and Canada have asked the International Criminal Court to investigate Venezuela for crimes against humanities, including torture and the arbitrary detention of anti-government protesters, NPR noted.
But even though Paraguay announced it was breaking off diplomatic relations and refusing to recognize Maduro’s re-election Thursday, he has managed to retain other key allies in Latin America and the Caribbean, including Cuba and Bolivia – whose presidents attended his inauguration.
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