"Together with other like-minded countries in the Lima Group, Canada rejects the legitimacy of the new presidential term of Nicolás Maduro. "Canada congratulates Juan Guaidó, who on January 5, 2019, assumed the Presidency of the National Assembly," wrote Freeland. "As the only remaining democratically-elected institution in the country, the National Assembly must continue to play a crucial role in keeping Venezuela's democracy alive. He was elected to head the National Assembly by the often-fractious group of opposition parties that have dominated it since 2015. New sanctionsThe Lima Group statement that infuriated Maduro also announced a number of new measures against his regime.

Source: CBC News January 10, 2019 21:29 UTC