ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION)<br/> <br />Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will miss Thursday's (January 10) scheduled swearing-in ceremony for his third term due to health problems, the government said in a letter to Congress read out on Tuesday (January 8).<br/> <br />Chavez has not been heard from since undergoing his fourth cancer surgery in Cuba on December 11, and officials have described his condition as delicate.<br/> <br />The constitution says the president should begin a new term on Jan. 10.<br/> <br />In a letter from Vice President Nicolas Maduro and read out in the National Assembly by its President Diosadado Caello, it was confirmed the inauguration would be postponed.<br/> <br />The delay is another sign that Chavez's battle with an undisclosed form of cancer in the pelvic region may keep him from ruling for a third term.<br/> <br />The constitution does not specify what happens if the president does not take office on Jan. 10.<br/> <br />Government leaders insist Chavez is completely fulfilling his duties as head of state.<br/> <br />Opposition leaders insist the government is running roughshod over the constitution by ignoring the specified inauguration date. They insist Congress head Diosdado Cabello, a key Chavez ally, should step in as a temporary president while Chavez recovers.
