The US on Friday announced it was raising a bounty on President Nicolas Maduro to $25 million, as the Venezuelan leader was sworn in for a third term in office. Also named in the sanctions announced by the Treasury Department are eight Venezuelan officials who lead “key economic and security agencies enabling Nicolas Maduro’s repression and subversion of democracy in Venezuela”.

The US has announced an increased $25m (£20.4m) reward for information leading to the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on the day he was sworn in for a third six-year term in office. The inauguration ceremony was overshadowed by recrimination from the international community and Venezuelan opposition leaders.

Maduro and his aides have always rejected sanctions by the U.S. and others, saying they are illegitimate measures that amount to an "economic war" designed to cripple Venezuela. H

President-elect Donald Trump issued a warning to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who entered his third term Friday, that he better keep democracy activists 'safe and alive' after detaining Maria Machado.

Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro was sworn in for a third presidential term after an election the opposition says was rigged.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was sworn in for a third six-year term Friday despite international condemnation of his recent reelection as illegitimate, as his administration grows increasingly brazen in cracking down on opponents.

"The power granted to me by the Constitution has not been given to me by a foreign government or a gringo government," Maduro declared in his inauguration speech. "I have not been placed by the oligarchy.