(Reuters) - 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.

Edmundo González has become a beacon of hope for millions of Venezuelans. They want to call him president. He believes he won that office at the ballot box last year.

Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González is mobilizing regional backing, asserting he won July’s election over President Nicolás Maduro.View on euronews

Venezuela’s exiled opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia has urged the Venezuelan military to recognize him as their commander-in-chief and “put an end to the leadership” of President Nicolás Maduro,

Thousands of Venezuelan citizens filled the streets of Caracas on Thursday to protest against the government of Nicolás Maduro, less than 24 hours before the presidential inauguration. The president claims to have been re-elected in July and is seeking to take office on Friday for another six years.

Self-exiled Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González is rallying regional support for the opposition’s claims that he won the July election against President Nicolás Maduro

Edmundo González gains Panama's backing for his victory claim in Venezuela against Nicolas Maduro in July's presidential election.

Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez, recognized as president-elect by several countries, arrived in Panama on Tuesday, one of his last stops on the tour he undertook before trying to return to Venezuela to take office,