The second inauguration of Nicolás Maduro as President of Venezuela took place on Thursday, 10 January 2019. The inauguration involved the swearing-in of Nicolás Maduro for his second term, and, especially within the context of Maduro's election, has been controversial and contested by various figures and organizations.
Election
On 20 May 2018, elections were held across Venezuela to elect the President to take office in January 2019. These elections were initially scheduled for December 2018, but were rescheduled twice by Maduro—the incumbent—in a move seen as limiting the ability of other candidates to run. The Constituent Assembly announced the election, although it did not have the power to do so constitutionally. Several of the main opposition candidates, such as Henrique Capriles, Leopoldo López and Antonio Ledezma, were disqualified from running.
The official turnout reported by the National Electoral Council was 46.07%. The Democratic Unity Roundtable estimated the turnout at 25.8%, based on its quick count estimates. Maduro dismissed allegations of foul play, and stated that "the opposition must leave us alone to govern".
The contention around the legitimacy of the inauguration was primarily based on the unusual activity of the election. Several Venezuelan NGOs, such as Foro Penal Venezolano, Súmate, , the Venezuelan Electoral Observatory and the Citizen Electoral Network, expressed their concern and cited the lack of the Constituent Assembly's competencies to summon the elections, impeding participation of opposition political parties, and the lack of time for standard electoral functions, and many countries worldwide, such as the European Union, Latin American governments and the United States, declared that the election was illegitimate.
Inauguration
Maduro's inauguration took place on 10 January 2019 in the Supreme Court building in Caracas.
The Venezuelan constitution specifies that inaugurations should be conducted by the National Assembly, at the Federal Legislative Palace. The Maduro administration views the National Assembly as being "in contempt", so his inauguration was officiated by the Supreme Court instead. Maduro was sworn in by Maikel Moreno, President of the Supreme Court, at 3:00pm; he ignored calls from the Lima Group to hand over power to the National Assembly until another election could be held.
Before the stage, a large military parade—which had moved through Caracas—took place on Avenida Bolívar, and the military gave its inaugural pledge of undying loyalty to Maduro for his six-year term. At the start of the inauguration, Maikel Moreno went blank and stuttered, having forgotten what to say, before looking to the side and continuing. Maduro gave an 80-minute address to those gathered, in which he stated: "We are a true, profound, popular and revolutionary democracy [...] I, Nicolás Maduro Moros, am a genuinely and profoundly democratic president." He also directly threatened Colombia, the United States, and Europe, telling the latter to "respect Venezuela […] or sooner rather than later you’ll pay the historical price". He also criticized his own party and political affiliation, saying that his plan for his second term was to "correct the mistakes of the Bolivarian Revolution", and that "corrupt chavistas" are actually his greatest threat.
Maduro said that 94 countries were present at his inauguration, but this count included the members of international organizations like the African Union and the Arab League. The number of UN-recognized countries who sent representatives to the inauguration act was 16: Bolivia, Cuba, Nicaragua and El Salvador sent their presidents; Turkey and Suriname sent their vice presidents; Belarus, Saint Kitts and Nevis and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines sent their prime ministers; and Antigua and Barbuda, China, Dominica, Granada, Iran, Mexico and the SADR sent diplomatic representatives. Palestine sent representatives, and both Abkhazia and South Ossetia were represented by their respectice presidents; all three are not officially-recognized members of the UN.