Venezuela president sworn in for 3rd term amid vote row

KABUL (Pajhwok): Nicolas Maduro has been sworn in as Venezuelan president for a third term despite a six-month-long election dispute and an increase in US reward offered for his capture, says a media report.

Maduro, who has been in power since 2013, was declared the winner of the July election by both Venezuela's electoral authority and the country's top court.

However, detailed vote counts confirming his victory had never been made public, Reuters reported.

Venezuela’s opposition claims that ballot box-level results show a landslide victory for former candidate Edmundo Gonzalez, who is recognised as president-elect by several countries, including the US.

International election observers, however, have stated that the vote was not democratic.

In the latest in a series of punitive steps, the outgoing Biden administration increased its reward for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Maduro on drug trafficking charges to $25 million from $15 million.

sa/mud