Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was inaugurated for a second term on Thursday, despite presiding over an economic meltdown of historic proportions and his status as an international pariah. A coalition of 13 countries in the Americas, dubbed the Lima Group, announced in early January that they would not recognize Maduro as legitimate. The Lima Group includes Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and St. Lucia. The countries issued a statement that said the May 2018 reelection of Maduro “lacks legitimacy,” and they condemned “the breakdown of the constitutional order and the rule of law in Venezuela.” They urged Maduro not to assume office and recognized the opposition in the national assembly as the legitimate authority in Venezuela. Needless to say, Maduro has not taken their advice to heart. He used the condemnation from the Lima Group as evidence that the U.S. was orchestrating […]