Venezuela is set to inaugurate a head of state on Friday \u2013 but there are still two men claiming to be the nation\u2019s rightful president. <\/p>\n
Incumbent Nicol\u00e1s Maduro is scheduled to attend a swearing-in ceremony on January 10 to begin his third term in power, despite many countries <\/strong>around the world disputing his claims to have won the presidential election in July. <\/p>\n His challenger Edmundo Gonz\u00e1lez Urrutia, who had been in exile in Spain since September, is determined to return to the capital Caracas by January 10 to take office, even under the threat of arrest by Venezuelan authorities. <\/p>\n Here\u2019s what we know about the power struggle and what it means for the country and region. <\/p>\n Maduro and Gonz\u00e1lez both claimed victory in the presidential election on July 28. <\/p>\n Venezuela\u2019s National Electoral Council, a body stacked with Maduro allies, formally declared Maduro the winner without providing voting tallies. <\/p>\n The opposition disputed the claim and released tens of thousands of tallies gathered from across the country, saying they proved Gonz\u00e1lez won by a landslide. <\/p>\n Thousands of Venezuelans protested the results in the immediate aftermath of the vote, demanding transparency. Many marched in the streets and clashed with police, fed up with the prospect of another Maduro presidency. <\/p>\n Venezuela\u2019s government responded by launching a massive crackdown on the country\u2019s opposition movement, arresting more than two thousand people, including hundreds of minors, in the first week after the election. <\/p>\n Venezuela\u2019s public prosecutor\u2019s office later issued a warrant for the arrest of Gonz\u00e1lez, prompting him to flee the country, and his fellow opposition leader Mar\u00eda Corina Machado to go into hiding. <\/p>\n Gonz\u00e1lez has long vowed to return to Venezuela to form a new government and prevent a new Maduro term. Earlier this week, he urged the military to recognize him as their commander-in-chief and \u201cput an end to the leadership\u201d of Maduro, who has been in power since 2013. <\/p>\n Gonz\u00e1lez could attempt to enter the Venezuelan capital with key supporters by his side. <\/p>\n Entering Venezuela could prove risky. <\/p>\n On Monday, Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello warned that if Gonz\u00e1lez arrives in Venezuela, he will be arrested along with any former presidents who accompany him. <\/p>\n Pastrana responded to Cabello\u2019s threat on X, saying, \u201cif they don\u2019t let us in, we\u2019ll see each other on the way out. Very soon.\u201d <\/p>\n For his part, Maduro says he has already received an invitation from the National Assembly to be sworn in at a ceremony on Friday. <\/p>\n The event will take place \u201cin peace, in national unity, together with the people,\u201d he said, alluding to extreme security measures his government is preparing for inauguration day. \u201cThere will be no fascism, there will be no imperialism that can stop it.\u201d <\/p>\n In the days leading up to the inauguration, Venezuela said it had it arrested more than 125 people \u2013 among them foreigners from several countries including the United States \u2013 who were accused of being \u201cmercenaries\u201d involved in \u201cdestabilization actions.\u201d It also integrated police and militias with the military, deploying troops across the country to maintain order before the swearing-in ceremony. <\/p>\n If Maduro takes office again, it could further deteriorate diplomatic relations with many of Venezuela\u2019s neighbors. <\/p>\n A host of countries throughout the region have already refused to recognize his ruling, siding with Gonz\u00e1lez instead. <\/p>\n Venezuela cut ties with several countries that questioned the official election results and expelled some of their diplomatic staff. Some nations withdrew diplomats on their own, condemning Maduro\u2019s refusal to give up power. <\/p>\n The inauguration is also expected to affect migration across the Americas. <\/p>\n Under Maduro\u2019s presidency, up to 8 million people have fled Venezuela due to unprecedented levels of poverty and economic mismanagement, with many traveling thousands of miles to reach the US and other countries. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n Venezuela is set to inaugurate a head of state on Friday \u2013 but there are still two men claiming to be the nation\u2019s rightful president. Incumbent Nicol\u00e1s Maduro is scheduled to attend a swearing-in ceremony on January 10 to begin his third term in power, despite many countries around the world disputing his claims to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":7551,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/investingsstrategist.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7550","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/investingsstrategist.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/investingsstrategist.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/investingsstrategist.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7550"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/investingsstrategist.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7550\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/investingsstrategist.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/investingsstrategist.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/investingsstrategist.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/investingsstrategist.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} How did we get here?<\/h2>\n
What happens on inauguration day?<\/h2>\n
International impact<\/h2>\n