Venezuelan President sworn in for second six-year term

Mr. Maduro swore "to respect and enforce the Constitution and lead all revolutionary changes" in a ceremony at the Constituent Assembly, which he set up himself last year and stacked with his supporters.

In a wide ranging speech, Mr. Maduro promised to defeat US sanctions and take steps to correct the course of an economy in ruins, including seeking support from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to nearly double its oil output.

Earlier, on May 20th, more than 20 million Venezuelans began to cast votes to elect their President from three candidates for a new six-year term.

With 93% of the ballot counted, Mr. Maduro won with 5,823,728 votes, or 68% of votes cast, to second-place finisher Henri Falcon's 1,822,552, or 21%. Third-place finisher Javier Bertucci, an evangelical pastor, got 921,042 votes, or 11%.

The elections were initially scheduled for December, then changed to April 22nd, then delayed again to May 2018.

Nicolas Maduro, born in 1962, has been the President of Venezuela since former President Hugo Chavez died in 2013. He previously served under President Hugo Chavez as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2006 to 2013, and as Vice President of Venezuela from 2012 to 2013./.