Caracas.— El presidente venezolano, Nicolás Maduro, ordenó ayer al alto mando militar que la Fuerza Armada firmase un documento de “lealtad” luego de que, dijo, se descubriera que varios militares pretendían participar en una “conspiración” para impedir las presidenciales del pasado domingo. Los cabecillas, afirmó, fueron detenidos, aunque el jefe del presunto complot estaría prófugo.

“He ordenado... llevar la proclama y convertirla en documento, que sea firmada por toda la Fuerza Armada Nacional Bolivariana (FANB), para llevar a fondo un proceso de remoralización, de reactivación de los valores morales e ideológicos, conceptuales, de cada oficial hasta en el último comando llegar con la palabra de la verdad”, dijo. El país, insistió, necesita una “Fuerza Armada unida, de pie, leal, que dé una sola cara ante el imperialismo agresor”.

Maduro afirmó esto en un discurso frente a varios pelotones de cadetes de las escuelas militares en una parada militar a propósito de su reelección, a la que acudió acompañado de los jefes militares.

Durante el acto, Maduro ofreció más detalles de la supuesta conspiración. En la “última semana se han venido desmembrando conspiraciones financiadas, dirigidas y promovidas desde Estados Unidos para dividir a nuestra Fuerza Armada para [que] con una acción publicitaria y militar se suspendieran las elecciones del 20 de mayo”.

Agregó que en el supuesto complot, con la intención de preparar un golpe de Estado, participó la oligarquía colombiana, de la que afirmó pretende apropiarse de las riquezas venezolanas y personas relacionadas con la embajada de EU.

“Gracias a los anticuerpos fue detectada a tiempo y están convictos y confesos por haberse entregado a los traidores que en Colombia pagaron en dólares para traicionar el honor de nuestra Fuerza Armada. Que nadie baje la guardia, es tiempo de combatir”, dijo.

Maduro detalló que el jefe del presunto complot está prófugo y escapó hacia Colombia. “Se detuvo a los cabecillas pero su jefe está huyendo por ponerse al servicio de la oligarquía colombiana y el imperio norteamericano”. Según versiones de prensa y activistas, al menos 15 oficiales de la Marina, la Avación y la Guardia Nacional (policía militarizada) fueron detenidos y son acusados de conspiración.

Maduro, investido ayer por la Asamblea Constituyente para el periodo 2019-2025, aseveró que la FANB es “chavista” y “bolivariana”. Por tanto, agregó tras recibir el tradicional juramento a viva voz de lealtad, “no se acepta aquí ningún vestigio de colonialismo o neocolonialismo, es una Fuerza Armada antiimperialista... Exijo máxima lealtad a la FANB, máxima lealtad a la Constitución”.

Maduro expulsó el martes de Venezuela al encargado de negocios de EU en Caracas, Todd Robinson, y lo acusó de “conspirar” contra la revolución bolivariana que lidera y contra las cuestionadas votaciones. Junto con él expulsó al ministro consejero, Brian Naranjo. Robinson dejó ayer el país.

Ni Colombia ni EU reconocen como legítimas las elecciones del domingo en las que no participó el grueso de la oposición venezolana por considerarlas fraudulentas y en las que, según el Consejo Nacional Electoral, fueron las presidenciales de más baja concurrencia de la historia del país.

Al juramentarse, Maduro ofreció también abrir un proceso de reconciliación que podría llevar a la liberación de algunos opositores y levantar la producción petrolera para enfrentar la crisis económica, aunque admitió que al país le vienen tiempos difíciles ante las nuevas sanciones de Estados Unidos, dado que impedirán al país sudamericano “conseguir dinero para hacer las importaciones”. Aun así, enfatizó que “las sanciones de míster Trump serán anuladas y derrotadas”.

Acerca de las liberaciones, desacartó de antemano que puedan verse beneficiados quienes cometieron graves crímenes o asesinatos.

La juramentación fue rechazada por la coalición opositora, que consideró el acto como una “escena bufa” y una “burla” a los venezolanos en medio de la crisis. “Es indignante que se usen espacios públicos y símbolos de la patria para escenificar una mentira”, dijo la alianza en un comunicado al reiterar el desconocimiento de la reelección de Maduro y de la Constituyente.

Evalúan posibles crímenes de guerra. Un panel de expertos internacionales dará a conocer el martes en Washington un informe que revelará si en Venezuela se han cometido crímenes de lesa humanidad contra la población que hagan necesario llamar la atención de la Corte Penal Intencional (CPI).

El reporte fue elaborado a partir de las audiencias publicadas celebradas en Washington en septiembre y octubre pasado, así como de información de la oficina del secretario general de la Organización de Estados Americanos (OEA), Luis Almagro.</s>Caracas, May 24 (EFE).- The Venezuelan President Thursday ordered the armed forces to sign a “loyalty” document after several soldiers were found to have allegedly tried to engage in a conspiracy to hinder the presidential elections on May 20.



“I have ordered (the military) to take the oath and turn it into a document to be signed by the entire National Bolivarian Armed Forces (FANB) in order to carry out a process of remoralization, reactivation of the moral and ideological values of each officer, ” Nicolas Maduro said.



Accompanied by military leaders, Maduro made the announcement in a speech in front of several units of cadets from military schools in a military parade celebrating his re-election.



During the ceremony, Maduro also offered more details of the alleged “conspiracy”, which he said was financed and directed by Colombia and promoted by the US government to divide the FANB and “try at the time to suspend the May 20 elections.”



The newly re-elected president said that this movement has been “dismembered” and that “all those responsible for selling and giving themselves to traitors are convicted and confessed”.



Maduro noted that since the FANB is an organization rooted in “Chavista” and “Bolivarian” ideologies, “no vestige of colonialism or neocolonialism is accepted here,” adding “it is an anti-imperialist armed force”.



“I demand maximum loyalty to the FANB, maximum loyalty to the Constitution,” he said.



Earlier, the president said before the ruling National Constituent Assembly, where he was sworn in as president, that several “conspirators” linked to the US embassy in Venezuela and the Colombian government had been caught.



On Tuesday, the Venezuelan president also expelled the US Chargé d’Affaires in Caracas, Todd Robinson, from Venezuela and accused him of conspiring against the Maduro-led Bolivarian revolution and the elections.



Neither Colombia nor the US recognize the elections as legitimate as the Venezuelan opposition coalition chose not to participate because they considered them fraudulent.



According to the National Electoral Council, the May 20 poll had the lowest voter turnout rate in the history of the country.</s>The Venezuelan President Thursday ordered the armed forces to sign a "loyalty" document after several soldiers were found to have allegedly tried to engage in a conspiracy to hinder the presidential elections on May 20.

"I have ordered (the military) to take the oath and turn it into a document to be signed by the entire National Bolivarian Armed Forces (FANB) in order to carry out a process of remoralization, reactivation of the moral and ideological values of each officer, " Nicolas Maduro said.</s>Nicolas Maduro has been sworn in as Venezuela’s president-elect, months before he is due to formally take the oath of office next year for a second term.

Nicolas Maduro has been sworn in as Venezuela’s president-elect, months before he is due to formally take the oath of office next year for a second term.

Nicolas Maduro confirmed as winner of Venezuela’s presidential poll in ceremony

The inauguration-like pomp left many confused because Mr Maduro’s next six-year term does not begin until January 10 and he is already president.

The ceremony came at a session of the pro-government constitutional assembly that has largely taken over powers of the opposition-led legislature. Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro, centre, Constituent National Assembly president Delcy Rodriguez, left, and first lady Cilia Flores, wave as they arrive for the ceremony (Ariana Cubillos/AP) In an address, Mr Maduro defended Sunday’s presidential election, calling it “free and “constitutional” despite being rejected as illegitimate by his leading challenger, by the United States and a coalition of Latin American countries.

Mr Falcon rejected the vote and called for a new election, accusing Mr Maduro of buying votes of the poor by offering prizes. Mr Maduro said he recognised troubles facing Venezuelans, yet vowed to press forward with the country’s socialist policies, which have prompted crushing US sanctions.

“Those sanctions will bring serious difficulties, painful difficulties that we will face and will overcome and will defeat.”

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro, left, is recognised as the winner of the presidential election (Ariana Cubillos/AP) Venezuela was once among Latin American’s wealthiest nations, but it has sunk into deep economic crisis under Mr Maduro, who replaced his mentor, the late-president Hugo Chavez, in 2013.

In a gesture toward mending Venezuela’s deep divides, Mr Maduro called on a commission under the constitutional assembly to consider releasing some prisoners, without providing details.

In the days following the election, Mr Maduro has expelled two top US diplomats from Venezuela, drawing an equal response from Washington. At the same time as Mr Maduro’s ceremony, US Charge d’affaires Todd Robinson and deputy head of mission, Brian Naranjo, were flying out of the country.</s>CARACAS, Venezuela -- Nicolas Maduro was sworn in as Venezuela's president-elect on Thursday, months before he's due to formally take the oath of office next year for a second term.

The inauguration-like pomp left many confused because Maduro's next six-year term doesn't begin until Jan. 10.

The ceremony came at a session of the pro-government constitutional assembly that has largely taken over powers of the opposition-led legislature.

In an address, Maduro defended Sunday's presidential election, calling it "free and "constitutional" despite being rejected as illegitimate by his leading challenger, the United States and a coalition of Latin American countries.

Official results showed Maduro topping his closest challenger, Henri Falcon, by 47 percentage points. Falcon rejected the vote and called for a new election, accusing Maduro of buying votes of the poor by offering prizes.

Maduro said he recognized troubles facing Venezuelans, yet vowed to press forward with the country's socialist policies, which have prompted crushing U.S. sanctions.

"I won't lie," Maduro said. "Those sanctions will bring serious difficulties, painful difficulties that we will confront head-on, overcome and defeat."

Oil-rich Venezuela was once among Latin American's wealthiest nations, but it has sunk into deep economic crisis under Maduro, who replaced his mentor, the late-President Hugo Chavez, in 2013.

In a gesture toward mending Venezuela's deep divides, Maduro called on a commission under the constitutional assembly to consider releasing some prisoners, without providing details.

In the days following the election, Maduro has expelled two top U.S. diplomats from Venezuela, drawing an equal response from Washington.

Maduro highlighted that at the same time as the ceremony, U.S. Charge D'affaires Todd Robinson and deputy head of mission, Brian Naranjo, were flying out of the country.

Venezuela's opposition coalition blasted the swearing-in ceremony coming on the heels of what it considers a fraudulent election.

"Two illegitimacies don't cancel out each other," the coalition said in a statement, demanding Maduro's government respect Venezuela's constitution and its people.</s>The reelection of president Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela over the weekend was widely criticized as being a farce. The “Lima Group” of Latin American countries plus Canada issued a statement saying it didn’t recognize the legitimacy of the election, while the US imposed fresh sanctions on the Maduro government, with vice president Mike Pence calling the election “a sham—neither free nor fair.”

But North Korea, at least, sent Maduro a hearty congratulations. The state-run Korean Central News Agency carried a report today (May 23) saying that high-ranking official Kim Yong Nam sent Maduro a congratulatory message calling the reelection “an expression of the firm will of all the people of Venezuela to advance the Bolivarian revolution to the last and their trust in him.”

It went on, “The message wished the president bigger success in his responsible work for the country’s independent progress and prosperity.”

Hardly anyone, of course, thinks Maduro has brought “progress and prosperity” to his country, which in recent years has seen hyperinflation, food and medicine shortages, and millions of desperate Venezuelans fleeing to other countries. Nor were voters enthused about the election—the country saw record-low turnout.

Maduro does run an increasingly autocratic government that’s been hit by US sanctions, however, so that makes him easy to relate to for Pyongyang.

KCNA ran another piece today saying that US sanctions were “aimed at regime change” and “not confined to Venezuela only.” Of course, North Korea has suffered from US (and UN) sanctions designed to pressure it into giving up its nuclear weapons.

Meanwhile, one way ordinary Venezuelans have been coping with their dire circumstances is through satirical news site El Chigüire Bipolar, similar to The Onion. Its headline writers might have come up with “North Korea congratulates Maduro on his election victory” as a joke, but reality got there first.</s>The chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee met with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Friday, less than a week after the embattled socialist leader was re-elected in a vote the U.S. condemned and he kicked out the top American diplomat in the country.

The visit appeared to be an attempt by Sen. Bob Corker to push for the release of Joshua Holt, a U.S. citizen who has been held for two years in a Caracas jail without a trial on what he has called trumped-up weapons charges.

Corker, a Republican from Tennessee, was seen live on state TV shaking hands with Maduro and being greeted by first lady Cilia Flores as he entered the presidential palace. He left an hour later, and neither the senator nor the president made any statements.

Maduro easily won a second, six-year term in Sunday’s election, which was criticized by the U.S. and other nations as a “sham” after several of his key rivals were barred from running. After his victory, Maduro expelled U.S. charge d’affaires Todd Robinson and his deputy for allegedly conspiring to sabotage the vote by pressuring opposition parties to boycott the election, which had the lowest voter turnout in decades.

Corker was accompanied by an aide, Caleb McCarry, who led backchannel talks earlier this year with a close associate of Maduro aimed at securing the release of Holt.

Holt, a 26-year-old from Utah, traveled to Venezuela in June 2016 to marry a woman he had met online while looking for Spanish-speaking Mormons to help him improve his Spanish. He was arrested after police said they found an assault rifle and grenades during a raid on the public housing complex where the couple lived. He has denied the charge.

Shortly after Corker’s meeting with Maduro, social media in Venezuela lit up with speculation that Holt and his wife, Thamara Caleno, would be released as a good will gesture to improve relations, much as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un did by freeing three American detainees.

In a previous visit to Caracas in 2015, Corker was shunned by Maduro after having been promised a meeting with the president. Upon his return to Washington, Corker blasted Maduro’s government, saying its “flawed economic policies and political system” had put Venezuela on a “destructive path.”

There was no immediate comment from Corker’s office about the nature of his latest visit.

Last month, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, the No. 2 ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, also met with Maduro to press for Holt’s release.

The Maduro government has been seeking contacts in the U.S. to stave off the threat of crippling oil sanctions that could further damage an economy already staggering from hyperinflation and widespread shortages.

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, an outspoken critic of Maduro who has President Donald Trump’s ear on Venezuela, played down Corker’s visit.

“Any U.S. Senator can meet with whoever they want,” Rubio tweeted. “But no matter how many senators dictator (at)NicolasMaduro gets to meet with him, U.S. sanctions will go away when Maduro leaves & democracy returns.”

Venezuelan Information Minister Jorge Rodriguez described Maduro’s conversation with Corker as “very good meeting, good news for the Venezuelan people” but gave no details of what the two discussed.

A close Maduro ally, socialist party boss Diosdado Cabello, accused Holt of being the CIA’s spy chief in Latin America after the prisoner appeared in a video last week pleading for help, saying his life had been threatened during a riot by inmates in the Caracas jail where he and dozens of Maduro’s opponents are being held.

Before he left Venezuela on Thursday on Maduro’s orders, Robinson had been pushing unsuccessfully to see Holt.

However, on Friday, U.S. officials were allowed entry to the prison, according to a message posted by Holt’s mother, Laurie Holt, on her Facebook page. She said her son “was in good spirits,” except for discomfort from dozens of mosquito bites. She said his visitors gave him bug repellant.</s>CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela's fractured opposition emerged even more powerless Monday, a day after an election it boycotted propelled socialist President Nicolas Maduro to an easy victory amid a crushing economic crisis.

The coalition's strategy to sit out the vote succeeded at exposing declining support for the government. Yet it also leaves Maduro's opponents even more dependent on international pressure seeking to force change in this South American oil-exporting nation where people struggle to find food and are migrating in mass.

Even before the government-controlled National Election Council declared Maduro the overwhelming winner, nations around the world had accused him of taking Venezuela down the path toward "dictatorship." The election registered the lowest turnout in decades — around 46 percent — as many voters stayed home while the opposition warned the election was rigged.

It's an outcome likely to further weaken Maduro's legitimacy in the eyes of many, though not necessarily his grip on power.

There has been no sign of wavering support from the leadership of Venezuela's military, which long was the arbiter of Venezuela's political disputes. And Venezuelans busy trying to survive amid widespread food shortages and hyperinflation seem too demoralized to engage in protests like the ones that last year resulted in more than 140 deaths.

Opponents of the socialist revolution installed by the late President Hugo Chavez have few options, said Jennifer McCoy, a Georgia State University political scientist who led five electoral missions to Venezuela on behalf of the Carter Center until 2013.

"The opposition for some time has been waiting for something to save them," she said.

In one minor protest Monday, 30 opposition activists marched onto a major highway that a year ago was filled with tens of thousands of anti-government protesters. They unfurled a giant Venezuelan flag shouting, "This was a farce — not an election." Then they rolled up the flag and dispersed. It lasted 10 minutes.

"It's so hard to mobilize people who are desperately trying to survive or figure out how to leave the country," McCoy said.

She thinks it unlikely the U.S. will act on threats to slap an embargo on Venezuela's oil exports — its main source of cash. Resistance to the idea runs high among international oil companies as well as refineries built in U.S. Gulf states to process Venezuela's heavy crude, she noted. An embargo would also give Maduro a convenient excuse to blame his mounting problems on what he likes to call the "imperialist" U.S.

President Donald Trump did move Monday to strengthen the financial noose around Maduro, signing an executive order that makes it harder for Venezuela's government to sell off state assets, including money due from oil sales. Administration officials said top Venezuelan officials use such sales to enrich themselves, while millions struggle.

A senior U.S. administration official told The Associated Press that while oil sanctions are under active consideration, there is consensus that such a strong-armed tactic might not be needed given the impact of past sanctions, the damage already wrought by Maduro's own mismanagement and legal actions taken by many of Venezuela's unpaid creditors. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the administration's next steps.

The financial stranglehold on Venezuela triggered by a collapse in oil production and previous U.S. sanctions barring the government from restructuring its debts will likely only worsen the misery. Venezuela's inflation has soared to 14,000 percent, while the minimum wage has nosedived to a value of about $2 a month.

"This election doesn't solve Maduro's economic problems, and in some ways makes them far worse," said Yon Goicochea, an opposition activist who spent 15 months in jail until agreeing last year to run in mayoral elections, also boycotted by the opposition.

A growing roster of nations issued condemnations Monday for Venezuela's election, threatening to ramp up diplomatic and economic pressure.

A coalition of 14 countries from throughout the Americas, including Brazil, Mexico and Colombia, pledged to scale back diplomatic relations with Venezuela and urge international organizations not to give the Maduro government new credit.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy decried the vote as not respecting "minimal democratic standards" and vowed to consult with European counterparts on new measures in hopes of "easing the suffering of Venezuelans."

The people of Caracas, meanwhile, awoke Monday to return to their daily struggles, either at peace with the election's outcome or resigned to six more years under Maduro leadership.

Among those getting on with life was Concepción Fernandez, a 47-year-old merchant who stopped to reflect while waiting to catch a bus to work.

"I just might grab my suitcase and go," she said. "The Chavistas won't leave. There's nothing and nobody who can take them out."

Associated Press writer Jorge Rueda in Caracas and Christine Armario in Bogota, Colombia, contributed to this report.</s>
• Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro secured another term last weekend in what was widely seen as a fraudulent election.
• One research firm thinks Maduro could be overthrown by the military before the end of 2018.
• But some think the military lacks the leverage, credibility and motivation.

Hours before Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro declared another six years as president on Sunday, military commanders took to state television to defend the legitimacy of an election widely seen as fraudulent.

“The entire electoral process, the whole Operation Republic has been developing in complete normality, without any disturbance that would prevent the electorate from exercising their right to freedom of suffrage,” Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino said.

Meanwhile, government officials dangled food benefits in front of the handful of starved Venezuelans with enough energy to make it to the polls. Socialist activists awaited voters, who had been promised a “big prize” for casting a ballot, ready to scan state-issued cards that track food benefits in the country.

Few were surprised by behavior of top defense officials amid election irregularities. The military has long been seen as the very force propping up the presidency of Maduro, who led the unorthodox economic policies that drove Venezuela into the ground and continues to refuse direct international aid for the collapsing country.

“Maduro is there because he’s militarized the government,” Helima Croft, a former CIA analyst who is now head of global commodity research at RBC, told Business Insider. “He has essentially made the military his copilot.”

Members of the National Bolivarian Armed Forces of Venezuela hold top cabinet positions and run state energy operations. And in turn for these positions, which come with access to food and supplies that have all but vanished from the crisis-ridden country, members pledge political allegiance to Maduro.

But as the crisis spirals, some think loyalty among military members could wane. While still noting a “high degree of uncertainty” around Venezuelan politics, analysts from Fitch’s BMI Research predict the United Socialist Party of Venezuela will be “removed from power by a military coup before the end of 2018.”

“We believe that the country’s economic collapse will eventually leave the government completely unable to pay its bills, causing the patronage structures that have ensured the loyalty of the military to this point to fail,” they wrote in a note to clients.

The theory isn’t new within the international community. Sen. Marco Rubio, a harsh critic of Maduro, wrote an op-ed in the Miami Herald earlier this year that seemed to be encouraging a military coup. (Rubio was notably the subject of a possible assassination plot crafted by socialist party boss Diosdado Cabello last year.)

“The most stable and peaceful path forward for Venezuela is for a united front of disaffected government insiders and military personnel, with popular support from the Venezuelan people, to remove Maduro and his inner circle from power,” he wrote.

And in neighboring Colombia, a top place of refuge for those fleeing the Maduro regime, President Juan Manuel Santos earlier this month said he predicted there would be a “regime change” in Venezuela, without elaborating on how that might take place.

But civilians who have watched the reach of the Maduro regime unfurl firsthand aren’t convinced a coup is possible.

“Our institutions are so destoyed – the armed forces and PDVSA, where negative mentality is most profoundly entrenched – that it’s hard to see someone coming from there that has the moral, intellectual and technical capacity to come up with and drive the significant change we need,” a Caracas-based doctor, who requested anonymity for security reasons, told Business Insider.

Days after the election, 15 military officials were arrested for “political reasons,” according to local rights group Penal Forum. And that was just the latest in a string of incidences that seem to signal military dissent. Internal military documents recently obtained by Reuters show the number of soldiers detained for “treason, rebellion and desertion” more than tripled to 172 in the first four months of 2018.

Croft said it’s clear that discontent is rising in the ranks of the Venezuelan military, but remains skeptical a successful coup could take place since most perceived discontent seems to be among junior officers.

“The senior officers will want to preserve the system of spoils they have in place,” Croft said. “So, the question is, could you have another branch of the military effectively take control? Officer coups are often unsuccessful and bloody.”

Alejandro Velasco – a Venezuelan historian at New York University and author of Barrio Rising: Urban Popular Politics and the Making of Modern Venezuela – noted the military lacks credibility abroad as a transitional or democratic agent.

He said the calls for a military coup come from a small portion of the international community who understand democracy in “a very narrow way.”

“They see democracy as a policy and not a process,” Velasco said.

Even if the military were able to overthrow Maduro, it’s unclear what that would mean for the crumbling country. A university study last year found that about 90% of civilians were living in poverty and most lost an average of 25 pounds in body weight. And things have only gotten worse since then as sanctions pile on and as operations at state-run oil company PDVSA, formerly lifeblood of the country, fall apart.

“It has the human development indicators of a country that’s actually suffered a war,” Croft said. “Someone is going to have to come in and save Venezuela. It’s not enough for Maduro to be gone.”</s>Nicolas Maduro has been sworn in as Venezuela’s president-elect, months before he is due to formally take the oath of office next year for a second term. The inauguration-like pomp left many confused because Mr Maduro’s next six-year term does not begin until January 10 and he is already president. The ceremony came at a session of the pro-government constitutional assembly that has largely taken over powers of the opposition-led legislature.

In an address, Mr Maduro defended Sunday’s presidential election, calling it “free and “constitutional” despite being rejected as illegitimate by his leading challenger, by the United States and a coalition of Latin American countries. Official results showed Mr Maduro topping his closest challenger, Henri Falcon, by 47 percentage points.

Mr Falcon rejected the vote and called for a new election, accusing Mr Maduro of buying votes of the poor by offering prizes. Mr Maduro said he recognised troubles facing Venezuelans, yet vowed to press forward with the country’s socialist policies, which have prompted crushing US sanctions. “Those sanctions will bring serious difficulties, painful difficulties that we will face and will overcome and will defeat.”

Venezuela was once among Latin American’s wealthiest nations, but it has sunk into deep economic crisis under Mr Maduro, who replaced his mentor, the late-president Hugo Chavez, in 2013. In a gesture toward mending Venezuela’s deep divides, Mr Maduro called on a commission under the constitutional assembly to consider releasing some prisoners, without providing details. In the days following the election, Mr Maduro has expelled two top US diplomats from Venezuela, drawing an equal response from Washington. At the same time as Mr Maduro’s ceremony, US Charge d’affaires Todd Robinson and deputy head of mission, Brian Naranjo, were flying out of the country.
The president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, during a ceremony to celebrate his re-election, ordered the military high command that the Armed Forces sign a "loyalty" document, after claims to have frustrated a supposed conspiration that sought to avoid holding the presidential elections of May 20 and blamed the United States and Colombia for being behind it. Maduro also said that the leader of the alleged conspiration "was a fugitive and that he had escaped to Colombia".