Get-tough policy

Handout photo released by Miraflores presidential palace press office shows Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro during a Cabinet meeting with the National Defense Council and the Council of State at the Foreign Ministry building in Caracas, Venezuela on Tuesday. Maduro called for an ‘iron hand’ on the state powers following protests against his re-election bid in the July 28 election and amid allegations of fraud, which left 25 people dead and more than 2,000 arrests. Widespread protests broke out after Maduro was declared reelected by the CNE electoral council seen as loyal to his regime.