Venezuelan Elections
How media covered Nicolas Maduro’s inauguration for the third presidential term?
Published: May 14, 2025
On January 10, 2025, Nicolas Maduro was officially confirmed for his third presidential term in Venezuela.
Maduro has won the presidential election in 2024 with 52% of the votes. However, the results of the election were contested by the opposition with evidence of fraud and inconsistencies.
A part of the international community, especially US allies, doubted the results of these elections. This builds on a similar reaction to Maduro’s controversial election for the previous terms in 2018 and 2013.
For more background and a full explainer on the Venezuelan presidential crisis, read our Post factum report.
The Guardian: a UK daily newspaper, read internationally.
Centre-left: associated with “progressive” and “politically correct” views.
Independent: special ownership structure secures editorial freedom.
Focus: Openly critical of the Venezuelan regime.
The Guardian uses some emotional language in describing Maduro’s inauguration:
It mentions that Maduro is “accused of a shameless and fraudulent power-grab” and calls his re-election last year an “alleged theft”.
However, this language is indirect: instead of describing the events this way, the Guardian quotes other people’s descriptions that contain the emotional words.
The Guardian highlights that key regional leaders and former allies of Maduro on the centre-left from Brazil and Colombia missed the inauguration, reflecting their disapproval of the election process.
It also stresses that the event was only attended by autocratic leaders from Nicaragua and Cuba.
The Guardian focuses on critical international reactions.
They share a quote from the “progressive” president of Chile: “I am someone from… the political left [and] I tell you: Nicolás Maduro’s government is a dictatorship.”
The Guardian describes the struggles of Venezuela’s opposition, closing the article with a comment from Maduro’s key opponent, Maria Machado.
The Guardian’s previous Latin America correspondent was openly critical of Hugo Chávez, who was Maduro’s mentor. But in 2013, the correspondent said that many editors at the paper still believed that they should support Chávez "because he was a standard-bearer for the left".
Despite its traditional sympathies with the left, the Guardian’s position is now similar to other major newspapers with a more centrist editorial stance on the topic.
Venezualanalysis.com: a Venezuelan pro-government website
Openly supportive of the government since former president Hugo Chavez came to power in 1999
Describes itself as independent, published in English
Focus: Challenges mainstream media narratives on Venezuela, supportive of Nicholas Maduro
Venezualanalysis.com states its aim “to counter the corporate media propaganda against the Bolivarian Revolution by giving a voice to leftist and grassroots movements in Venezuela”.
This refers to the 1998 Bolivarian Revolution, a movement led by Hugo Chavez that ended a two-party political system in Venezuela and installed a populist government.
After Chavez’s death in 2013, his right-hand-man Nicholas Maduro was controversially elected, and later re-elected, the president of Venezuela.
While some outlets highlight that only two presidents attended Maduro’s re-inauguration, venezuelanalysis.com points out that there were international delegations from 125 countries. It does not define what is meant by delegation.
In another attempt to show Maduro’s legitimacy, it also describes “massive” pro-government demonstrations without specific evidence.
Most International media cast doubt on the 2024 election results, but venezuelanalysis.com simply states that they were ratified by the Supreme Court, which is openly supportive of the government.
It adds that the “US-backed opposition… refused to accept the outcome”.
The article accuses the opposition of “repeated regime-change operations”, including an assassination plot against Maduro in August 2018.
There is no specific evidence of any attempts on the life of Niclas Maduro or Hugo Chavez, but Venezuelan officials have often made such accusations since a failed coup in 2002, allegedly backed by the US.
In line with the website’s focus on criticising foreign intervention in Venezuela, the article writes: “successive US administrations have sought to strangle the Venezuelan economy with unilateral sanctions”.
While the US introduced severe economic sanctions, especially during Donald Trump’s first term, they have worsened the crisis that already started in 2014, following the death of Chavez and a fall in oil prices.
Al Jazeera: private media network, based in Qatar, partly funded by its government
Broadcasts in English and Arabic
Some critics in the US have accused it of anti-American bias, a claim it rejects.
Has won plaudits for war reporting
Focus: impartial news coverage, but critical of human rights abuses in its editorial
After briefly noting that Maduro was inaugurated despite international and local opposition, the article mostly provides basic context and recent history.
It closes by returning to the news, with some extra details on the US sanctions.
It is important to note that Qatar acted as a mediator in the latest round of failed talks between the Venezuelan government and the opposition. This would have created additional motivation to keep the news coverage neutral.
However, a longer Al Jazeera article published on the same day, clearly prepared in advance, focuses on state repression and human rights abuses.
Its portrayal of the Venezuelan regime is openly negative. This may be because it was written by a local correspondent who is physically closer to the events and possibly affected by them personally.
The article describes a photojournalist who has fled the country, remembering his final months in Venezuela “as being drenched in fear”.
It begins: “Before they could put me back in prison, I decided to escape”. This quote is clearly aimed at showing the regime to be authoritarian.
A spokesman from the Human Rights Watch is quoted towards the beginning to say that the government would “repress brutally” any opposition-led demonstrations.
Xinhua: China’s state-controlled news agency
Largest media organisation in China
Publishes in multiple languages
Focus: Uncritical coverage, highlighting China’s close alliance with Venezuela.
Xinhua’s main news article on 10 January focuses on quoting Maduro’s inauguration speech, providing little context.
It briefly records the basic fact that Maduro was inaugurated, with five of the article’s seven sentences quoting from his speech that day.
There is no mention of the election’s disputed result, the opposition in general, or the international backlash.
The final sentence simply reads: “On July 28, 2024, Maduro won the presidential election with 51.95% of vote, according to figures from the National Electoral Council.”
China has been Venezuela’s most important international backer, providing both diplomatic and economic support that has been vital for keeping the regime in power.
Venezuela became a loyal partner of China internationally, while also being financially in debt to it.
China is interested in Venezuela’s natural resources – as well as diplomatic support from a region the US has long considered to be its “backyard”.
In another article, Xinhua records the attendance of a special envoy from China at Maduro’s inauguration, underlining the strength of bilateral relations.
It states: “Venezuela attaches great importance to developing China-Venezuela all-weather strategic partnership, and firmly supports China in safeguarding its core interests, Maduro said.”
Reuters: international news agency, head office in London
News agency: produces comprehensive coverage of global events and sells it to other newspapers and professionals, also called “newswire”
Centrist editorial stance, aims to use neutral, objective language
Focus: Impartial presentation of the facts, highlighting the economic sanctions.
Reuters points to the economic and social crisis behind the disputed elections, and international calls for Maduro to step down.
The article provides the context of the electoral process that received widespread international criticism for failing to follow basic international standards for “free and fair” elections.
It briefly states that “international election observers said the vote was not democratic”.
Reuters describes the challenges facing the opposition presidential candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez. Currently, he cannot return to Venezuela without risking being put in prison.
The opposition, and many international governments, argue that Gonzalez won the elections. Therefore, they say he should have been sworn in (inaugurated) as president, not Maduro.
The article prioritises emotional quotes from the opposition leader and the reactions of international governments, including the US and other governments, who tightened sanctions.
Quotes from Maduro’s inauguration speech come lower down in the article.
This strengthens the sense that the elections were not free or fair, in line with Reuters’ editorial position.
Other coverage over the day was focused on the international reaction and the implementation of fresh sanctions, and their economic impact.
Reuters notes that the sanctions stopped short of withdrawing authorisations for international oil companies, including the US’s Chevron, to operate in Venezuela, and also discusses the implications of a Trump presidency.
By comparison, coverage in the Associated Press, another newswire agency, based in the US, is more emotive and descriptive, highlighting state repression and opposition protests.
The AP’s less neutral stance may be due to its broader audience: it is more targeted toward the general public, with its articles often reprinted in local newspapers, and is rated as having a Left bias.
Reuters, on the other hand, is targeted at a more professional audience, with many companies and media organisations subscribing directly to the service.
Author Benedict Mander
Editor Anton Kutuzov
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