Venezuela To Announce Details, Possible Date, Of Election To Replace Hugo Chavez
By Associated Press, Published: March 8 | Updated: Saturday, March 9, 12:02 PM
CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela on Saturday was awaiting a key ruling from the nation’s elections commission about details of a vote to replace Hugo Chavez, including a possible date, amid increasingly strident rhetoric on both sides of this politically polarized country.
The constitution mandates that elections be called within 30 days of Chavez’s March 5 death, though some have speculated the country will not be ready to organize it in that time frame. The National Election Commission has scheduled an announcement for later Saturday.
Chavez’s boisterous, passionate state funeral Friday often felt like a political rally for his anointed successor, Nicolas Maduro, who eulogized him by pledging eternal loyalty and vowing Chavez’s movement will never be defeated.
Maduro was sworn in as interim leader later Friday, delivering a strident speech that took shots at the United States, the media, international capitalism and domestic opponents he often depicted as treacherous. He claimed the allegiance of Venezuela’s army, referring to them as the “armed forces of Chavez,” despite the constitution barring the military from taking sides in politics.
The opposition has denounced the transition as an unconstitutional power grab, and likely standard-bearer Henrique Capriles said his side was studying its strategy for the vote, which will be held in the shadow of the government’s efforts to immortalize Chavez. Since his death, the former paratrooper has been compared to Jesus Christ and early-19th century Venezuelan liberator Simon Bolivar, and the government announced that his body would be embalmed and put on eternal display.
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