T hey are preparing for the coronation,” says a bakery manager in Caracas, Venezuela’s capital, as teams of cleaners spruce up the streets outside. On January 10th Nicolás Maduro will be sworn in for his third term as president in the National Assembly’s building nearby.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke Monday with leaders of Venezuela's democratic opposition to reaffirm U.S. support for the Venezuelan people and their votes "expressed at the ballot box."

Venezuela opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez, who says he resoundingly won a July presidential election but has been living in Spain after a warrant was issued for his arrest, said on Thursday he will travel to Argentina this weekend.