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<h1 itemprop="name headline ">Hugo Chávez supporters stage
inauguration day rally for absent leader</h1>
<p itemprop="description" id="stand-first" class="stand-first-alone"
data-component="comp : r2 : Article : standfirst_cta">President too
ill to attend scheduled swearing-in ceremony but supporters turn out to
declare 'We are all Chávez'</p>
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<ul class="article-attributes trackable-component b4"
data-component="comp: r2: Byline">
<li class="byline">
<div class="contributor-full"> Virginia López in Caracas and <span
itemscope="" itemprop="author" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person"><span
itemprop="name"><a class="contributor" rel="author" itemprop="url"
href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/jonathanwatts">Jonathan Watts</a></span></span>
</div>
</li>
<li class="publication"> <a itemprop="publisher"
href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian">The Guardian</a>, <time
itemprop="datePublished" datetime="2013-01-10T14:52EST" pubdate="">Thursday
10 January 2013 14.52 EST</time></li>
<li class="publication"><small><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/10/hugo-chavez-inauguration-day-absent">http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/10/hugo-chavez-inauguration-day-absent</a></small><br>
</li>
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<p>The day was scheduled for an inauguration celebration. It could
easily have become an occasion for mourning, possibly even a day of
conflict. Instead there was a peaceful rally for a missing president, <a
href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/hugo-chavez"
title="More from guardian.co.uk on Hugo Chávez">Hugo Chávez</a>, and a
giant question mark over what happens next.</p>
<p>With flags, banners, klaxons and vuvuzelas, more than 100,000 Chávez
supporters thronged in the streets outside <a
href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/venezuela"
title="More from guardian.co.uk on Venezuela">Venezuela</a>'s
presidential palace, Miraflores, and filled the air with noise, colour
and emotion as if to make up for the gap left by the man who has
dominated this space for the past 14 years.</p>
<p>Wearing the emblematic red shirts of the ruling party, and clutching
posters printed with their leader's image and the slogan "We are all
Chávez!", the crowd made their way to the same balcony where three
months ago they celebrated with their president after his fourth
election victory.</p>
<p>This time, however, Chávez was 1,300 miles away in a Cuban hospital
bed. He has been missing from public life for a month, since he
underwent emergency cancer surgery. His current condition is uncertain.</p>
<p>The government says he is suffering from a severe respiratory
infection; it has not said whether he is conscious. One thing is
certain: the president was too ill to attend his swearing-in ceremony.</p>
<p>"We are here to be sworn into office in place of our president who
wasn't able to attend. We will wait for him as long as it is
necessary," said Mariela Rodriguez, a teacher. "God will bring him back
to us healed".</p>
<p>The organisers said they wanted a mood that was sad but strong. Both
elements were evident, but so was uncertainty. "People are worried and
praying to God for his prompt return, but it's hard because we don't
know what is happening," said Estefania D'Stefano who owns a shop close
to Miraflores.</p>
<p>Chávez's six-year term is up and another is supposed to begin, but
the formal shift has become formless. After weeks of political
wrangling, the ruling party announced this week that the inauguration
would be delayed to allow more time for Chávez to recover. How long was
left unclear.</p>
<p>Despite a fierce debate in the national assembly, and opposition
accusations of a "constitutional coup", the postponement has been
endorsed by the supreme court, the legislature and the military.
Thursday's demonstration was called to show that the public and
regional leaders were also behind it.</p>
<p>On the eve of the rally, Diosdado Cabello, head of the national
assembly and a longtime Chávez ally, called on the public to bring
along symbols of presidential power as a show of solidarity.</p>
<p>"Anyone who has a sash, bring it along, because tomorrow the people
will be invested as president of the republic, because the people are
Chávez," he said. "All of us here are Chávez, the people in the street
are Chávez, the lady who cooks is Chávez, the comrade who works as a
watchman is Chávez, the soldier is Chávez, the woman is Chávez, the
farmer is Chávez, the worker is Chávez; we're all Chávez."</p>
<p>In response, supporters wore T-shirts emblazoned with "Yo soy
Chávez" (I am Chávez), and street vendors sold satin sashes like those
the president would have worn to be sworn into office.</p>
<p>Devotees reiterated the leadership's message. "I've noticed that the
people and all the ministers have become more united, because we have
understood that it is through unity that we can safeguard the
revolution. We will wait for [the] president as long as we need to,"
said Amarilis Gutierrez, a co-ordinator of a refuge in Miraflores.</p>
<p>The crowd was smaller and more muted than the giant campaign rallies
of past years, a sign both of the mood of concern among Chávez
supporters and the absence of anyone who could come close to him in
terms of charisma and pulling power.</p>
<p>But there was criticism too among passersby that the country had
been left rudderless. "He has a right to recover, but we cannot wait
for two years for Chávez to come back," said Noryelin Alarcon, a legal
assistant. "The government feels paralysed. Nothing here gets done
without Chavez."</p>
<p>The ruling party has tried to emphasise continuity of leadership:
Chávez, it says, is still in power, though the day-to-day running of
the country is largely being carried out by his vice-president and
political heir apparent, Nicolás Maduro.</p>
<p>Fringe rightwing groups called for a civic strike on Thurday, but
the mainstream opposition has rejected conflict. Henrique Capriles, the
defeated opposition candidate in the last presidential election, said
he would not ask supporters to take to the streets, but called instead
on the international community not to recognise the "unconstitutional
act" by the government.</p>
<p>That appeal looked likely to fall on deaf ears, particularly given
the strong regional support for Chávez, who is a figurehead of the
left. Several Latin American leaders are visiting Caracas, including
Uruguay's José Mujica, Evo Morales of Bolivia and Daniel Ortega of
Nicaragua. Brazil's president, Dilma Rousseff, has telephoned Maduro,
and her government has recognised that a delay of up to 180 days is
allowable under the Venezuelan constitution.</p>
<p>The US has kept a public distance from the political fray. "We hope
that any transiton in Venezuela be democratic, legal, constitutional
and transparent, a state department spokesman told the Spanish news
agency EFE.</p>
<p>What happens next will depend on whether Chávez can recover and the
ruling camp maintain its unity under Maduro. The alternatives were
almost too much for many of those on the rally to contemplate.</p>
<p>"I have never seen such a special leader," said Zayda Prieto, a
construction worker. "I came here today because we are all Chávez. I
will give him all the time he needs to recover… In the next weeks we'll
have him back and I will be back here in this same place to welcome
him."</p>
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