05 August, 2017
"I swear to defend the homeland from the imperial aggression and the fascist right wing that has spread its hate and intolerance against the country", Rodriguez said as she accepted the post. "With your bodies as your shield, you have defended the right to peace".
The strongly worded statement, issued by the Vatican's Secretariat of State, said Pope Francis is following closely the situation in Venezuela, where President Nicolas Maduro accelerated a showdown with the opposition, as he inaugurated his bitterly-opposed new assembly.
Speaking at a military event to celebrate the 80th anniversary of Venezuela's National Guard, Maduro also lambasted Venezuela's prosecutor's office, though he did not mention chief prosecutor Luisa Ortega by name.
The previous day Ms Ortega filed an injunction seeking to block the installation of the newly-elected constitutional assembly.
The Vatican had joined dozens of States in rejecting the new assembly, which it said "creates a climate of tension and conflict" in the overwhelmingly Catholic country, The Guardian reported. She was a longtime supporter of the late President Hugo Chavez but has been critical of Maduro's government and opposed some of its actions.
The election for the assembly Rodriguez will head occurred amid months of anti-government protests that have left more than 110 dead.
It was not immediately clear who will replace her, or whether she will now be tried.
Julio Borges says findings disclosed by voting software company Smartmatic provide "complete confirmation" of what opposition leaders and independent analysts had suspected.
The controversial assembly charged with rewriting Venezuela's constitution has gotten to work, and its first act of business was selecting former Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez to lead the body.
The assembly's 545 delegates approved the selection in a unanimous vote.
The opposition boycotted Sunday's election of the Constituent Assembly, arguing that the rules were rigged to benefit the government, and almost all the candidates were supporters of Maduro's administration.
But due to the lack of sufficient support, the sponsors of the latest declaration, including OAS General Secretary General Luis Almagro, as well as the United States, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico, declined to put it to a vote.
Delegates marched to the neo-classical legislative palace accompanied by hundreds of red-shirted government supporters.
Socialist Party officials arrived at congress carrying portraits of independence hero Simon Bolivar and Chavez, whose image was removed from the legislature's main hall by the opposition legislators when they took over in January 2016.
His brazen efforts to rewrite Venezuela's constitution under the guise of democracy is an insult to freedom, and taking power away from his citizens against their will is completely reprehensible. Venezuela was suspended from the group in December.
Following Sunday's vote, the US government imposed sanctions on Maduro, freezing all his assets subject to USA jurisdiction and barring USA citizens from doing business with him. "Let there be no provocations, nor should people fall into provocations", Maduro said.
Earlier, the Vatican urged the Venezuelan government to "avoid or suspend" its new legislative superbody. Authorities say both men had violated the conditions of their house arrest.
