The Supreme Court of Justice of Venezuela (TSJ) orders that the Executive Vice President of the Republic, Delcy Rodríguez, immediately assumes the presidency of the Republic, in strict compliance with the Constitution and Venezuelan laws.
The president of the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice, Judge Tania D’Amelio, specified that in view of the foreign aggression that occurred this Saturday, January 3, 2026, of which the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela was the object, as well as the kidnapping of the Constitutional President Nicolás Maduro Moros and the first lady Cilia Flores, this instance of the TSJ, in exercise of the interpretative power conferred by article 335 of The Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, considers it necessary to carry out a systematic and teleological interpretation of articles 234 and 239 of the Magna Carta of the Bolivarian nation in order to determine the applicable legal regime to guarantee the administrative continuity of the State and the defense of the nation.
This interpretation is given for the purposes 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 light of the exceptional situation generated by the kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro Moros, which constitutes a case of material and temporary impossibility for the exercise of his functions.
By virtue of the above, and in compliance with the attribution conferred by article 335 of the CRBV, as the maximum and final interpreter of the Constitution as well as article 5 of the organic law of the Supreme Court of Justice, this chamber bases its jurisdiction and proceeds ex officio to interpret the applicable constitutional precepts in order to clarify and dispel any legal uncertainty, with the aim of establishing the roadmap for the preservation of the constitutional order at this momentous 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 and force majeure situation, 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 court has considered essential in the framework of an urgent and preventive precautionary situation, a protective measure to guarantee continuity administration of the State and the defense of the nation.
In this sense, this court considers that the constitution, in its article 239, point six, attributes to the executive vice president the function of making up for the temporary absences of the President of the Republic.
Likewise, the TSJ orders to immediately notify the citizen Executive Vice President, the nation’s defense council, the military high command, and the National Assembly “to be notified and complied with immediately.”
