CANCER-STRICKEN. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez greets supporters during a campaign rally in Monagas on September 28, 2012. AFP Photo/Juan Barreto

CARACAS, Venezuela – Venezuela's cancer-stricken President Hugo Chavez can continue as head of state even if he is unable to take the oath of office on January 10 as scheduled, Vice President Nicolas Maduro said Friday, January 4.

With a pocket-sized copy of the constitution in hand, Maduro argued in a televised interview that it allows the president to be sworn in by the Supreme Court at a later date.

"It opens a dynamic flexibility that precisely can respect the fundamental element established by our constitution – that the president of the republic has been re-elected by the will of a national majority in an absolutely transparent and legitimate electoral event," Maduro said. – Rappler.com