By Daniel Wallis and Brian Ellsworth CARACAS (Reuters) - Nicolas Maduro was sworn in as Venezuela's president on Friday at a ceremony attended by leaders from Iran to Brazil after a decision to widen an electronic audit of the vote took some of the heat out of a dispute over his election. Maduro, a bus driver-turned-foreign minister who became the late Hugo Chavez's chosen successor, narrowly beat opposition challenger Henrique Capriles in the election last Sunday.

Bolivia's President Evo Morales on Wednesday revoked juicy perks, including premium plane travel, that his administration had granted his relatives and those of the vice president, amid a national outcry over the freebies. The cushy treatment, including diplomatic passports and generous travel allowances, was to have been given to family members traveling with the president or vice president on official trips. The presidential and vice-presidential family members would have received per diems that were more than twice the minimum monthly wage in this impoverished country.

The United States is ending its logistical and financial support of Bolivia's fight against drugs with a donation of equipment, Washington's top envoy said. "This is the end of an era," Larry Memmott, the US embassy's charge d'affaires and highest-ranking official in Bolivia, told private radio Erbol. Within the framework of counternarcotics conventions, the United States donated eight helicopters, as well as three transport aircraft and a small plane.

The wives and children of Bolivia's president and vice president have received per diems that are more than twice the minimum monthly wage in the impoverished country, drawing fierce criticism Wednesday. The government approved the per diems on March 13 but the decree was only recently revealed by the newspaper Pagina Siete. The perk applies when the family members are traveling with the president or vice president on official trips. They are also granted diplomatic passports.