Diplomatic pressure by the United States government in favour of Henrique Capriles, a prosperous tax lawyer and the failed candidate in the April 14th presidential election in Venezuela, and against Nicolas Maduro, the victorious candidate and heir of the late president Hugo Chávez, is escalating international tensions in Latin America.
On Friday, Mr Maduro, the former bus driver who was a close associate of the late president, took an oath on “the constitution of 1999, Christ the redeemer and the memory of the supreme commander” and was sworn in as president in Caracas before heads of state and delegations from 27 countries as he pledged his loyalty to Chávez’s 21st-century socialism.
The US has refused to recognise Mr Maduro’s narrow electoral victory, despite the fact the process was viewed as impeccable by the EU.
President Evo Morales of Bolivia has called on Unasur, the regional bloc of 12 South American nations which is rapidly eclipsing the faltering Washington-based Organisation of American States, to reject the US secretary of state’s imputations against the Venezuelan vote.
Mr Maduro’s supporters are making much of Mr Capriles’s part in a badly organised, US-supported two-day putsch in April 2002 which targeted the then overwhelmingly popular and legally elected Chávez for nearly two days. Mr Capriles was filmed attacking the cables supplying the Cuban embassy in Caracas with electricity.