Monday, January 10, 2011

Venezuela: New National Assembly Sworn In

Havana
January 6, 2011

Venezuela: deputies sworn in to new National Assembly

CARACAS, January 5.—The 165 deputies to the Venezuelan National Assembly were sworn in this Wednesday for a five-year term, Telesur reports. Of the total, 98 are members of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) and 67 make up the opposition.

Addressing a huge crowd, Chávez affirms that the new Parliament has the full support of the Bolivarian government.

Thus the new Parliament has been formally installed, with Deputy Fernando Soto Rojas as president, Aristóbulo Isturiz as first vice president, and Blanca Eeckout as second vice president.

After a five-year absence, the Venezuelan opposition has returned to the legislative body, in which it refused to have a presence by not participating in the 2005 parliamentary elections through which the outgoing National Assembly came to power.

Socialist Deputy Cilia Flores, outgoing parliamentary leader, stated after the swearing in, “The majority of revolutionary legislators will continue with the Bolivarian project this year until complete sovereignty and independence is attained.”

Representatives of diverse sectors of the population marched in a huge mobilization to the Federal Legislative Palace in support of the PSUV bloc, according to the Prensa Latina agency.

Accompanying the march, President Hugo Chávez stated that Venezuela has begun the year by taking a positive step within the strategy of building socialist democracy, RNV noted.

From Plaza O’Leary in central Caracas, Chávez affirmed that the new National Assembly president, to whom he handed over Bolívar’s sword as a symbol of the people’s mandate, has the full support of the Bolivarian government, YVKE Mundial reports.

Opposition supporters also marched this Wednesday to back their deputies.

Translated by Granma International

No comments: