Maduro Takes the Oath in Venezuela
HAVANA TIMES — Nicolas Maduro, 50, who considers himself the son of Hugo Chávez, took the oath on Friday afternoon in Caracas to officially become the new president of Venezuela for the 2013-2019 term.
After receiving the presidential band from National Assembly head Diosdado Cabello, Maduro promised to build an “independent and socialist” country.
Maduro won a close election on Sunday April 14 by less than two percent over his rival Henrique Capriles, who demanded a full audit of the voting day process.
Capriles refused to recognize Maduro’s triumph until the revision process concludes. His supporters carried out a pots and pans pounding protest while the inauguration ceremony was taking place.
Dozens of the foreign delegations attended the ceremony including the presidents of Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, Honduras, Iran, Nicaragua, Peru, Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Uruguay.
Also present were the Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and the vice president of the Chinese Parliament.
The United States has refused to recognize Maduro as president until the voting audit is completed.
If what you say is true, Moses, that “Chavez chose Maduro to succeed him because of his loyalty and not because of his leadership skills,” then the Chavista project is in for “interesting times.”
On the other hand, Maduro may have more in him than you or anyone can know, and he may prove to be the best possible leader to follow Hugo. I hope this proves to be the case. We will see.
When Chavez could not be inaugurated the official position was that there was no rush. Why was there now a rush before the recount? The Chavistas were never going to allow a peaceful transfer of power. I am not optimistic.
I watched the inauguration on CNN Espanol. Some young man was able to rush the podium and grab the mike from Maduro. He then screamed his support for Maduro but what was interesting was Maduro’s reaction. In a very UN-presidential tone, Maduro complained about the lack of security and shrieked out loud, “This guy could have shot me!”. Maduro also spent 15 minutes slobbering praise for the Castros and Cuba. Who does this during a presidential swearing-in speech? I am clearly no fan of Maduro but I really believe that he is not ‘President’ material and will likely do more harm than good. He is clearly a puppet of the Castros who have only their best interests in mind at the peril oof the Venezuelan people. It is also clear that Chavez chose Maduro to succeed him because of his loyalty and not because of his leadership skills. Given the serious problems facing Venezuelans, it should be a rocky next few years.