With his challengers scattered and reeling, Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro was sworn in for a third six-year term, shrugging off international condemnation of a sham election and a brutal crackdown on dissent.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is set to be sworn in for a third term on Friday amid protests and international calls for him to stand aside.

It is not viable for Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez to enter the country, his ally Maria Corina Machado said on Friday, shortly after President Nicolas Maduro was sworn in for a third term despite months of controversy over the country's contested July election.