VP Maduro calls for compliance with court ruling on Chávez's swearing-in

Executive Vice-President Nicolás Maduro reiterated Wednesday in a cabinet of ministers and before the military high command that on January 10 begins a new constitutional term, even though the swearing-in ceremony of President Hugo Chávez does not take place.

Maduro urged all those who called for the National Assembly to declare a temporary or absolute absence of the Venezuelan president to abide by the decision made on Wednesday by the Constitutional Court, Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ). The top court ruled that the Venezuelan Head of State can be sworn in after he recovers from his health problems.

Maduro, who is also the Venezuelan foreign minister, also recalled that the Constitutional Court of TSJ is the highest and ultimate interpreter of the Constitution. "The word and the voice of the Constitutional Court of the Supreme Tribunal are sacred," he said during a cabinet meeting, broadcast by state-run television network Venezolana de Televisión.

He also invited the Venezuelan people to attend on Thursday the events to be staged around the presidential palace of Miraflores, downtown Caracas, in support of Chávez. He informed that foreign ministers, deputy foreign ministers and heads of delegations from 20 countries that were invited to witness Chávez's symbolic inauguration have arrived in Venezuela.

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