President-elect Donald Trump says Venezuela's embattled opposition leader must be protected as President Nicolas Maduro takes the oath of office for a third six-year term.

Maria Corina Machado was freed shortly after she was detained amid gunshots while leaving a protest in eastern Caracas.

The inauguration of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has left his opponents grappling with conflicting feelings of hope and disappointment, pondering why the leftist leader could not be stopped despite credible evidence that he had lost the election last year.

Maduro’s inauguration seals an election outcome that opposition politicians and the US government say was stolen.

Venezuela opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was detained at a march in Caracas on Thursday in her first public appearance in months and her ally, former presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez, demanded she be freed immediately.

(Reuters) - It is not viable for Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez to enter the country, his ally Maria Corina Machado said on Friday, shortly after President Nicolas Maduro was sworn in for a third term despite months of controversy over the country's contested July election.

Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro was sworn in for a third presidential term on Friday, despite overwhelming evidence that he lost July’s presidential election to opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez,

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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