Venezuela's newly re-elected President Nicolas Maduro on Thursday pledged to release some jailed opposition activists, boost the OPEC member's tanking oil production and open dialogue with business leaders.

He gave little in the way of specifics and some of the promises were repetitions of previous vows that have not come to pass.

On Sunday Maduro won an election that critics at home and abroad condemned as a farce cementing his autocracy, at a time when the oil-rich nation is suffering from increasingly dire food shortages, health crises, and mass emigration.

Opposition politicians have said it is unlikely that he will make significant changes to the crumbling state-led economic model inherited from his predecessor, the late Hugo Chavez.

Presenting his credentials at the pro-government Constituent Assembly on Thursday, Maduro said those opposition activists jailed during massive anti-government protests but who have not committed "serious crimes" should be released.