Joshua Goodman and Regina Garcia Cano | Associated Press

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was sworn in for a third six-year term after a reelection widely viewed as illegitimate and as his administration grows increasingly brazen in cracking down on its opponents.

Aides to Venezuela opposition leader Maria Corina Machado say she was detained Thursday, but they've been contradicted by authorities who accuse government opponents of trying to spark an international crisis.

A Venezuelan aid worker’s arrest while catching an international flight has cast a spotlight on the climate of fear and repression engulfing the South American nation in the wake of its disputed presidential election.

The Biden administration has reimposed crushing oil sanctions on Venezuela in a rebuke to President Nicolas Maduro’s attempts to consolidate his rule just six months after the U.S. eased restrictions in a bid to support now fading hopes for a democratic opening in the OPEC nation.