Venezuela Court OKs Inauguration Delay

For all anyone knows, Hugo Chavez is lying unconscious in a hospital bed in Cuba, but his political machine is still plenty strong: Venezuela's Supreme Court ruled today that his swearing-in ceremony for another term as president can be postponed indefinitely, reports Reuters. In the meantime, business will proceed as usual, with Vice President Nicolas Maduro the nation's de facto leader. The opposition had argued that a caretaker government should be assembled and new elections called. (More Hugo Chavez stories.)