European Union member states on Friday broadened their sanctions against Venezuela to include 15 additional members of the National Electoral Council of Venezuela, the judiciary, and the security forces.

"The Venezuelan Armed Forces categorically and energetically rejects the new sanctions imposed by the infamous imperial brotherhood," wrote general Domingo Hernandez Larez, head of the Strategic Operational Command of the National Armed Forces of Venezuela in a statement posed on social media.

Venezuela's authoritarian President Nicolás Maduro was sworn in for a third six-year term on Friday, following an election that many in the international community and the opposition considered rigged.

The United States imposed sanctions Friday on eight Venezuelan officials and increased to $25 million the reward it is offering for the arrest of President Nicolas Maduro. The actions came on the day of Maduro’s inauguration to a third term following a disputed election last year.