A propósito: a Unasul e o Mercosul não vão declarar "ruptura democrática" na Venezuela, ao não ter sido respeitada a Constituição?
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Paulo Roberto de Almeida
Officials Push to Postpone Swearing-In of Chávez
By WILLIAM NEUMAN
The New York Times, December 24, 2012
CARACAS, Venezuela — Top officials in the government of President Hugo Chávez,
who is recuperating from cancer surgery in Cuba, say they will postpone
his inauguration, now set for Jan. 10, if he is too ill to return to
Venezuela to begin his new term.
Opposition politicians and commentators have said that if Mr. Chávez is
not in Venezuela to be sworn in on that date, a constitutional provision
would kick in requiring that a new election be held within 30 days.
But government officials loyal to Mr. Chávez have forcefully rejected that notion and said the swearing-in could take place at a later date.
“Jan. 10 is a date that the Constitution holds as a formality for the
swearing-in,” Attorney General Cilia Flores said Monday in televised
remarks to reporters after a church service during which top government
officials prayed for Mr. Chávez’s recovery. She said the Constitution
allowed the date to be postponed.
“What we have is a president who has been re-elected, and he will be
sworn in on that day or on another later date,” she said.
Information Minister Ernesto Villegas announced Monday that Mr. Chávez
had shown a “slight improvement” in his slow recovery from cancer
surgery and had sent a greeting wishing the nation a Merry Christmas.
Officials have released little specific information about the emergency
surgery Mr. Chávez underwent on Dec. 11 but have described it as complex
and difficult. They have said Mr. Chávez encountered complications arising from the surgery, including bleeding and a lung infection. More recently, they described his condition as stable but delicate.
Mr. Chávez was re-elected president on Oct. 7 with 55 percent of the
vote, compared with 44 percent for his rival, Henrique Capriles, a state
governor.
The Constitution calls for a newly elected president to take office on
Jan. 10 by being sworn in before the National Assembly. It goes on to
say that “if, for any unexpected reason, the president of the republic
cannot take possession before the National Assembly, he will do it
before the Supreme Court of Justice.”
Diosdado Cabello, the head of the National Assembly, said last week that
because the second clause did not contain a date or indicate a place,
the swearing-in could happen at any time.
On Monday, Vice President Nicolás Maduro also said there was room in the
Constitution to delay the swearing-in. The president had received
permission from the National Assembly to be out of the country
indefinitely for his cancer operation, and the permission could be
extended past Jan. 10, said Mr. Maduro, whom Mr. Chávez said he wanted
to succeed him if he could not continue in office. “The Constitution is
very clear,” Mr. Maduro said.
José Vicente Haro, a professor in constitutional law at Andrés Bello
Catholic University, had a different view. He said government officials
were trying to argue that because Mr. Chávez was re-elected, his old
term could simply be extended without a formal swearing-in. He called
that an incorrect interpretation and said that after Jan. 10 the cabinet
ministers appointed by Mr. Chávez in his current term could no longer
hold office.
Mr. Haro, who has served as a consultant to the political coalition
opposed to Mr. Chávez, said, “Without doubt there is a constitutional
crisis, and it is of such gravity that the legislative power, the
executive power and the Supreme Court have had to make statements trying
to clear up the doubts and uncertainty that they themselves have
created because they don’t want to follow the Constitution.”
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