This afternoon the Venezuelan Supreme Court announced that President Hugo Chávez’s inauguration for his 2013-2019 term, originally scheduled for 10th January, would be pushed back to a later date.

The decision comes amidst much controversy and speculation as to when and if the president-elect, who is recovering from cancer surgery in Havana, Cuba, will be healthy enough to be sworn in before the country’s National Assembly.

On Tuesday evening before legislators, National Assembly president Diosdado Cabello read a letter from vice president Nicolás Maduro stating that, at the recommendation of the Cuban surgical team, Chávez would not be able to attend the 10th January inauguration. He requested a postponement of the ceremony, citing Article 231 of the Venezuelan Constitution which states that “If for any unforeseen circumstance the President of the Republic cannot assume office before the National Assembly, it will be brought before the Supreme Court.”

The National Assembly granted Chávez “all the time he needs to attend to his illness”. The matter was then sent to the Supreme Court for authorisation.

After the Supreme Court convened for approximately two hours this morning to discuss the issue, president of the Court Luisa Estela Morales announced in a press conference that “there is no interruption” of Chávez’s mandate, but rather a temporary reprieve granted unanimously by the National Assembly for health reasons.

“The Venezuelan Constitution outlines two opportunities for the presidential inauguration”, she told reporters. “If he cannot [attend] 10th January before the National Assembly, he can do it in front of the Supreme Court but the document doesn’t specify in what manner or when.

“The Executive power has continuity, not only speaking of the president but of the entire Executive, including the vice president and all the ministers,” she continued.

Opposition legislators had called for Cabello to assume an interim leadership as president of the National Assembly in order to hold elections, a move that he has said is unnecessary. He also criticised legislators and media outlets for speaking of a “power vacuum” in the country.

“Maduro is vice president,” he said. “The president’s decision seems to me an extremely successful one. We have said that with Nicolás [Maduro] the revolution will not fail.”

As of yet there is no specified date for the new inauguration.

President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner was sworn in for a second term on Saturday 10th December 2011. Throngs of people waited for a glimpse of of their beloved President from Congreso to Plaza de Mayo. Photographer Patricio Murphy shares his coverage of the day.

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner was sworn in Saturday afternoon in Congress for her second term as president of Argentina.

In her inauguration speech Fernández de Kirchner recognized the nation’s achievements that occurred during her first administration. Among those mentioned were strong economic growth, decreased poverty and unemployment, and the reduction of sovereign debt.

The president announced the creation of a new position, Secretary of Foreign Trade, who will work closely with the Secretary of Interior Commerce, Guillermo Moreno.

The president also identified future goals of the Argentina, which include greater market competition, improvements in education, higher penalties for tax evasion, and continued cooperation and integration with other South American countries.

Additionally, the president addressed labour unions, stressing the importance of workers’ right to strike, but warned that the government would not tolerate extortion.

South American leaders who attended the ceremony included the presidents of Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Brazil.

After a week of speculation, the General Secretariat of President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner has confirmed that Vice-President and Head of Senate Julio Cobos will swear in Fernández for her second presidential term in Saturday’s inauguration ceremony.

The decision was made according to Article 93 of the Constitution, which says that it is the Head of Senate’s duty to swear in the president and vice-president elect.

Uncertainty about who would perform the duty stemmed from the 2008 conflict that arose between Fernández and Cobos over a controversial grain exports tax. Cobos made the tie-breaking vote against the tax, thus alienating himself from the Peronist Party. Since then, tensions have been high between Fernández supporters and Cobos.

It had been suggested last week that Tucumán senator and incoming Upper House Provisional President Beatriz Rojkes de Alperovich would preside over the ceremony.

Vice-President elect Amada Boudou, who is not in favor of Cobos acting in the official role, went so far as to say, “I don’t want anything to do with him, nor even have him around”.

A spokesperson for Cobos, Julio Paz, said the vice president “is ready to do the swearing in as is stipulated in the constitution”.

A severe aftershock from last month’s earthquake shook Chile yesterday, as the new president, Sebastián Piñera, was inaugurated. The epicentre of the quake, which reached 6.9 on the Richter scale, was in central Chile in the region of O’Higgins, but strong tremors were also felt in Valparaíso, where the inauguration ceremony took place. The main shock occurred at 11.40 yesterday morning and was followed by tsunami alerts. Tremors measuring up to 5 points on the Richter scale continued to be felt early today. Piñera described the damage cause by the new quake as “significant”.

Shock waves were felt during Piñera’s inauguration ceremony yesterday morning, which nevertheless took place as planned. However, the official lunch that Piñera was scheduled to have with foreign dignitaries, who had come to observe the ceremony, was cancelled due to continuing tremors. Instead, Piñera flew to observe the damage in regions affected by the quake.

The new president announced his intention of focusing on reconstruction, and called on Chileans to remain calm, reassuring them that they had a “government that will act as quickly, opportunely and effectively as possible.” He also stressed the importance of moving forward with the crisis, urging his people the time had come to “dry tears and begin with all the force in the world the process of addressing the emergency.”

The new president’s agenda has been altered massively by last month’s earthquake, which was recorded at 8,8 on the Richter scale, and by the continuing aftershocks. Elected on a platform of conservative policies, he promised during his campaign to stimulate the country’s economy, create jobs and fight crime. However, now Piñera’s main focus is to reconstruct the country. When presenting his new political program, Piñera stated: “Now is the time for solutions…we will pick Chile back up.”

Piñera, a billionaire conservative businessman, won the second round of presidential elections in January, defeating his rival Eduardo Frei, from the incumbent left-of-centre coalition La Concertación. He is the first conservative president to be elected in Chile since the end of the military dictatorship in 1990 and is the first right-of-centre leader to take power democratically in over half a century.

Opinion polls published by the news agency Merco Press indicate that the Chilean public have confidence in the new president’s abilities, as 59% of interviewees said they believed the country would “move ahead with President Piñera.” However, outgoing president Michelle Bachelet, from the rival party La Concertación, also left office with 84% approval ratings.

After his inauguration on Monday as Uruguay’s 52nd president, José ‘Pepe’ Mujica has served his first full day as head of state. The 74-year-old ex-guerrilla leader took office yesterday in Montevideo, and the 13 members of his new cabinet were sworn in today.

Mujica, the country’s second consecutive president from the left-wing party Frente Amplio, has promised to work towards integration and social progress. Speaking at an international press conference on Sunday, Mujica said that he wants to, “eliminate destitution in the country, lower poverty by 50% and massively stimulate education and culture”.

However, despite emphasising the need for social change, Mujica stated in his inaugural speech that his first aim was to support the economy, saying “we need investors” and that “if we don’t increase our wealth, everything else is blah blah blah”.

In terms of foreign policy, he stressed his commitment to working with other Latin American countries, and bi-lateral summits have been arranged with the leaders of Ecuador, Columbia and Venezuela. Moreover, he has stated that Uruguay is wedded to the South American economic union Mercosur “til death do us part”.

Mujica has also stressed his commitment to working with the opposition and reaching bi-partisan agreements, saying “all or nothing is stupid, it achieves nothing”. Notably, he distanced himself from his earlier, more radical stance as a left-wing guerrilla, describing himself in a meeting between Argentine and Uruguayan business leaders as a “wild cat that has turned vegetarian”.

In the 1960s Mujica became a founding member of the left-wing guerrilla movement Tupamaro and following his radical activism he spent 15 years of his life in jail. After the return of democracy to Uruguay in 1985, he was released and between 2005 and 2008 he served as Uruguay’s minister for livestock, agriculture and fishing. Mujica won the country’s second round of presidential elections in November 2009 with 52% of the votes.

Environmental issues were high on the new president’s agenda and as symbol to mark his commitment to solving energy problems in Uruguay, he made his journey from the legislative palace to Plaza Independencia in an electric car.