Maduro sworn in as Venezuela's president
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E-mail Xinhua, April 20, 2013
Nicolas Maduro was sworn in as Venezuela's president Friday at a ceremony held in the National Assembly in the city of Caracas, capital of Venezuela, with attendance of international representatives from more than 60 countries.
![Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (2nd L) and his wife Cilia Flores (2nd R) take part in a military parade to commemorate the 203rd anniversary of the independence, in the city of Caracas, capital of Venezuela, on April 19, 2013. [Xinhua]](http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20130420/00016c42b25a12dc423026.jpg "Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (2nd L) and his wife Cilia Flores (2nd R) take part in a military parade to commemorate the 203rd anniversary of the independence, in the city of Caracas, capital of Venezuela, on April 19, 2013. [Xinhua]") |
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Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (2nd L) and his wife Cilia Flores (2nd R) take part in a military parade to commemorate the 203rd anniversary of the independence, in the city of Caracas, capital of Venezuela, on April 19, 2013. [Xinhua] |
Dressed in a black suit matched with a red tie, Maduro greeted dozens of people waiting outside the parliament before walking into the legislative palace with his wife Cilia Flores.
In the special session of the National Assembly, which was led by Speaker Diosdado Cabello, Maduro took the oath of office at the legislative palace. "It is you from the moment invested as constitutional president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, on behalf of the people and our commander," Cabello said.
Maduro gave his first words as head of state of Venezuela to recall the proclamation of the independence of the South American nation from Spanish empire with the signing of an agreement on April 19, 1810. In his speech, Maduro also called for dialogue with the opposition, and said he was willing to talk to opposition leader Henrique Capriles, to cease "hate" and "division" in the country.
"If there are differences you can keep them as you want, but if you accept my invitation, come with me, Chavez's son, to construct the homeland, to build the future," said Maduro, pledging that the government will work to guarantee the peace in the country.
While promising to assume his responsibilities with honesty, simplicity, Maduro also emphasized the legacy the late President Hugo Chavez left to the country after 14 years in office.
"Chavez is our giant of history. When he expired (sic) his last second of life on March 5, 2013 he left us a free country, a country of the people, a homeland ... of workers. He left us a homeland, a national plan for 100 years," he said.
Maduro, who narrowly won Sunday's presidential elections with 50.75 percent of the votes as acting president, will serve his tenure as president till 2019.
The swearing-in ceremony was attended by 61 foreign delegations and 17 heads of state or government, including E'uigen Iminbaha, vice-chairman of China's National People's Congress Standing Committee, who came as Chinese President Xi Jinping's special envoy.
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