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Chile Refuses to Recognize Maduro's New Presidential Term - Foreign Ministry

BUENOS AIRES/MEXICO CITY (Sputnik) - Chile does not recognize the new presidential term of Venezuela's incumbent leader Nicolas Maduro, who took the oath of office on Thursday, Chile's Foreign Ministry said.
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On Thursday, Maduro was sworn in for his second presidential term that will last through 2025.

"We do not recognize this government which came to power today because it is the continuation of the rule of Nicolas Maduro, whom we all know," Chilean Foreign Minister Roberto Ampuero said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said that the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry believes that the statement of Chile, which called the re-election of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro a "black day for Venezuelan democracy," is a manifestation of racism.

"Racism grows in these governments from every idea that they express and from every move that they make," Arreaza wrote on Twitter.

READ MORE: Nicolas Maduro Sworn in for Second Term as Venezuelan President

On Thursday, US State Secretary Mike Pompeo condemned Maduro's "illegitimate usurpation of power" and "unfair elections" held on May 20, 2018, which saw Maduro securing the new term in office.

At a meeting in Lima last week, the Lima Group of Latin American countries plus Canada urged Maduro to refrain from taking the presidential oath.

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Similarly, the Organization of American States (OAS) said in a statement that it did not recognize the legitimacy of Maduro's new term and reiterated its "deep concern" about the deteriorating political, economic, social and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela.

The group argued that this situation in Venezuela resulted from "the breakdown of democratic order and serious human rights violations in that state, and the government of Venezuela’s negligence to meet the fundamental Inter-American standards of human rights and democracy."

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