Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro has started a second term in office, in the face of growing isolation from the international community and a worsening economic crisis. A dozen Latin American governments and Canada have joined together in a coalition to reject the legitimacy of Mr Maduro’s next six-year term, and the US has sanctioned top officials in his government. While Mr Maduro’s popularity has plunged amid hyperinflation, scarcities and rising authoritarianism, supporters in shantytowns who receive government subsidies continue to back the late Hugo Chavez’s successor.
