Chávez, Too Ill to Return to Venezuela, Will Be Sworn In Later, Official Says

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/09/world/americas/chavez-swearing-in-delayed-official-says.html

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CARACAS, Venezuela — Hugo Chávez, Venezuela’s cancer-stricken president, will not return from Cuba this week in time to be sworn in for the start of his new term, a top government official said on Tuesday, adding that the ceremony could legally take place at a later date.

Vice President Nicolás Maduro reported the president’s expected absence from Thursday’s scheduled inauguration in a letter to the National Assembly. The letter was read during an assembly session by the legislative leader, Diosdado Cabello.

In the letter, Mr. Maduro invoked a disputed section of the Constitution that government officials say allows the swearing-in to take place in the future.

The country has been on edge amid a growing clash over opposing interpretations of the Constitution. While the letter cleared up one mystery hanging over Thursday’s event, it is still not clear if Mr. Chávez will recover and when, or if, he will be able to return and continue to govern.

If he dies or is too sick to continue as president, the Constitution says, a new election should be held.

Mr. Chávez has not been seen or heard from since undergoing surgery in Havana on Dec. 11. Mr. Maduro wrote in the letter that Mr. Chávez’s medical team recommended that he remain in Cuba to continue his recuperation. Mr. Chávez was re-elected in October to a new six-year term.

The Constitution sets Jan. 10 as the start of a new presidential term and says the president-elect should be sworn in on that day before the National Assembly. But it also says that if he cannot be sworn in before the Legislature, he can be sworn in before the Supreme Court.

The sentence mentioning the alternate swearing-in does not specify a date, and government officials have said that means Mr. Chávez can be sworn in later.

Legislators in Mr. Chávez’s United Socialist Party stood and clapped and chanted “Forward, Commander!” after Mr. Cabello read the letter aloud.

Opposition legislators responded during the raucous session that followed by disputing the government’s interpretation of the Constitution.

Some lawmakers argued that the president’s absence on Thursday means that Mr. Cabello should be sworn in as a caretaker president.

Mr. Cabello, a staunch Chávez ally, and other government officials have rejected that interpretation.

Other lawmakers called for the creation of a team of medical specialists that would travel to Havana to investigate the seriousness of the president’s illness and report back to the Legislature.

Significant details about the president’s illness have been kept secret. The country has not been told what form of cancer he has or what his most recent surgery, his fourth since June 2011, was intended to accomplish.

Officials have said Mr. Chávez is fighting a severe lung infection that followed the surgery, but they have not said if he has pneumonia or is on a ventilator.

At the end of the session, Mr. Chávez’s party, which holds a large majority in the Legislature, used a show of hands to register support for the vice president’s request to postpone the swearing-in.

“President Chávez, this honorable assembly gives you all the time you need to tend to your illness and return to Venezuela,” Mr. Cabello said.

Earlier in the day, Henrique Capriles, a state governor who lost to Mr. Chávez in the October presidential election, said the Supreme Court should step in to clarify the constitutional dispute.

If a new election must be held, Mr. Capriles is the most likely candidate for the opposition. Mr. Chávez said before he left for his surgery that he wanted Mr. Maduro to run as his party’s candidate.

Cecilia Sosa, a former president of the Supreme Court, said that both the government and the opposition were promoting mistaken interpretations of the Constitution and accused them of maneuvering for political advantage.

She warned of increasing uncertainty, saying executive department officials in appointed posts like the vice president and the cabinet ministers would normally cease to serve when the current presidential term ends. And while they could be reappointed, there will be no president on hand to take that step.

“The illegitimacy is very great,” she said. “According to the Constitution, they can’t keep doing things without a president.”