Supreme Court orders Delcy Rodríguez to be sworn in as president in charge of Venezuela

In a statement, read by Judge Tania d'Amelio, the country's highest court explained that, in view of the foreign military aggression that took place on January 3, 2026, to which the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela was subject and which aimed at the kidnapping of the constitutional president, Nicolás Maduro Moros, this Constitutional Chamber, in exercise of the interpretative power conferred by article 335 of the Constitution, considers it necessary carry out a systematic and teleological interpretation of articles 234 and 239 of the Magna Carta.

This interpretation is given for the purpose of determining the applicable legal regime to guarantee the administrative continuity of the State, and the defense of the nation, in the face of the forced absence of the President of the Republic in the light of the exceptional situation generated by the kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro Moros, which constitutes an assumption of material and temporary impossibility for the exercise of his functions.

By virtue of the foregoing, and in compliance with the attribution conferred by article 335 of the CRBV, as the highest and last interpreter of the Constitution as well as article 5 of the organic law of the Supreme Court of Justice, this chamber bases its competence and proceeds ex officio to interpret the applicable constitutional precepts in order to clarify and allay any legal uncertainty, with the aim of establishing the road map for the preservation of constitutional order at this transcendental moment in the country.

This highest constitutional interpreter appreciates that this public and notorious event, which occurred on January 3, 2026, constitutes an exceptional, atypical situation of force majeure, not literally provided for in the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, generating a situation that requires constitutional certainty, due to the maximum seriousness that threatens the stability of the state, the security of the nation and the effectiveness of the legal system, which is why this chamber has considered it indispensable in the framework of an urgent precautionary situation and preventive, a measure of protection to guarantee the administrative continuity of the State and the defense of the nation.

In this regard, this chamber considers that the constitution, in its article 239, paragraph six, attributes to the executive vice-president the function of filling for the temporary absences of the President of the Republic.

In addition, the Supreme Court orders that the citizen's Executive Vice President, the nation's defense council, the military high command, the National Assembly be immediately notified and complied with.