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.

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,

Venezuela opposition leader María Corina Machado's aides said she was detained Thursday, followed moments later by official denials of her arrest, in a confusing episode that capped a day of protests seeking to block President Nicolás Maduro from clinging to power.