Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro has been sworn in for a third six-year term, despite international criticism following the July presidential election.
Standing before the National Assembly in the capital Caracas on Friday, Maduro took the oath of office with a promise that his next term would be a “time of peace”.
But the period leading up to his inauguration was greeted with demonstrations and accusations of government repression and electoral fraud.
Protesters took to the streets on Thursday in both Venezuela and other countries with large Venezuelan diaspora communities, including Spain, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico and El Salvador.
At the rally in Caracas, opposition leader Maria Corina Machado came out of hiding for the first time in months to encourage supporters to keep pressure on Maduro and his government.
She was briefly detained by security forces after her public appearance, according to her team. Other opposition leaders have been arrested or are facing warrants for their arrest.
The opposition accuses Maduro, 62, of stealing the election of July 28 last year, and the United States, the European Union and several Latin American countries have recognized opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia as Venezuela's legitimate president. .
Critics denounced a new wave of repression ahead of Friday's ceremony, with several activists and opponents arrested in recent days, prompting the UN to express shock.
Just Thursday, at least 17 activists were detained, according to a post on the X social media platform by Gonzalo Himiob of the NGO Foro Penal.
Maduro had ordered the deployment of thousands of police and soldiers to maintain security before the inauguration, especially in the capital Caracas.
Military personnel guarded the streets, many of which were closed for the ceremony, and traffic was much lighter than usual as the police manned several roadblocks.
