Chavez inauguration can be postponed, Venezuelan judge says

Ailing leader suffers complications following fourth cancer surgery in Cuba

CARACAS — Venezuela’s Supreme Court chief said Wednesday that the upcoming inauguration of President Hugo Chavez can legally be postponed, siding with the government in a heated dispute with the opposition while the ailing leader struggles with complications a month after cancer surgery in Cuba.

Supreme Court President Luisa Estella Morales made the statement after the opposition urged the top court to rule that the government was violating the constitution by putting off the swearing-in for a new term, which had been scheduled for Thursday. Lawmakers voted Tuesday to delay the ceremony, allowing Chavez to take the oath of office at a later date before the Supreme Court.

Morales also said the Supreme Court has not considered appointing a panel of doctors, as opposition politicians have demanded, to evaluate whether Chavez is fit to remain in office after remaining out of public view since Dec. 11.

Although the opposition has not yet filed a formal court challenge to the delayed inauguration, Morales said she was announcing the decision in response to a request for a legal opinion by a woman she didn’t identify. She said the inauguration can be performed before the Supreme Court, at a time and place to be determined.

“We know it’s necessary, and undoubtedly the inauguration is going to be carried out, but at this time we can’t anticipate when,” Morales told reporters at a news conference.

The constitutional debate takes place against a backdrop of complaints that the government isn’t giving complete information about the condition of Chavez, who hasn’t spoken publicly since his fourth cancer-related surgery in Cuba four weeks ago.

“It’s very evident that he isn’t governing, and what they want us to believe is that he’s governing, and they’re lying,” opposition leader Ramon Guillermo Aveledo told the Venezuelan television channel Globovision.

He insisted that the National Assembly president should take over temporarily as interim leader and that the Supreme Court should appoint a panel of doctors to determine Chavez’s condition.

Aveledo didn’t say when or how the opposition planned to bring its challenge, and it was unclear how the opposition would respond to Morales’ statement.

Venezuela’s constitution says the oath of office should be taken before lawmakers in the National Assembly on Jan. 10. But the charter adds that if he is unable to be sworn in by the National Assembly, the president might take the oath before the Supreme Court, without explicitly stating a date.

Speculation that his illness might be entering its final stages grew on Tuesday when the proposal for a postponement came in a letter signed by Vice-President Nicolas Maduro, not Chavez.