Taking Oath, Leader Blasts Constitution
From Times Wire Reports
Seven years after trying to overthrow the government, former Lt. Col. Hugo Chavez was sworn in as Venezuela’s president. The crowd erupted into cheers when Chavez broke with the pledge repeated by every president during 40 years of democracy. “I swear in front of my people that over this dying constitution I will push forward the democratic transformations that are necessary so that the new republic will have an adequate Magna Carta for the times,” he said.
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