The court decision determined that the vice president would assume ‘the position of President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, in order to guarantee administrative continuity and the integral defense of the Nation’
The Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) of Venezuela ordered this Saturday (4) that the executive vice president, take over as interim president, becoming the first woman in the country’s history to head the Executive, after the capture of by the
“It is hereby ordered that citizen Delcy Eloína Rodríguez Gómez, executive vice-president of the Republic, assumes and exercises as the person in charge all the attributions, duties and faculties inherent to the position of president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, with the aim of guaranteeing administrative continuity and the integral defense of the nation”, stated the president of the Constitutional Chamber, Tania D’Amelio, when reading a statement broadcast on a mandatory radio and television network.
The country’s highest court demanded that Rodríguez, the nation’s defense council, the military high command and Parliament be notified “immediately” of this decision, without specifying how long the inauguration ceremony should take place.
Next Monday, January 5th, a new legislative period (2026-2031), dominated by Chavismo, is scheduled to take place, in which the president and other directors of Parliament must be sworn in.
The TSJ indicated that it took this decision after what it classified as the “kidnapping” of Maduro by American military forces and his subsequent transfer to US territory, a situation that it described as “exceptional, atypical and force majeure not literally foreseen in the Venezuelan Constitution”.
The objective, as he highlighted, is to guarantee the administrative continuity of the State and the defense of the nation, “without this implying deciding on the merit of the definitive legal qualification of the presidential absence (temporary or absolute), nor replacing the competences of other State bodies to carry out such qualification in subsequent procedures”.
According to article 234 of the Venezuelan Constitution, the president’s temporary or absolute absences will be covered by the executive vice-president for up to 90 days, extendable by decision of Parliament for the same period.
If an absence lasts for more than 90 consecutive days, the text says, the Legislature will decide by a majority of its members whether it should be considered an absolute absence.
Experts consulted by the EFE Agency point out that the current Constitution, approved in 1999, relies on the executive vice-presidency in the absence of the president.
In this sense, it contemplates two scenarios in the absence of a president who has already taken office, although none of them corresponds to the current situation which, in addition, experts warn, occurs with a government whose legitimacy is questioned after the 2024 presidential elections.
This Saturday, Rodríguez announced the activation of the National Defense Council, headed by her, and that she sent the state of external commotion decree to the TSJ so that it could declare its constitutionality and come into force.
Among the powers of this council are to mobilize the Bolivarian National Armed Force throughout the territory and immediately take over militarily the infrastructure of public services, as well as the oil industry, to guarantee its “full functioning”.
*With EFE
