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Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is pictured during his inauguration ceremony in Caracas on Wednesday.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is pictured during his inauguration ceremony in Caracas on Wednesday. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)
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CARACAS, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was sworn in for a new six-year term on Wednesday, local media reported.

The president took the oath of office at the National Assembley for his third six-year term.

Chavez, who was reelected president of Venezuela on Dec. 3, 2006, has vowed to push ahead with social programs. "I will dedicate my life and my nights to building Venezuelan socialism," he said.

On Monday, Chavez's cabinet has sworn in at the Rio Reina room of the Teresa Carreno Theater, Caracas' biggest cultural center. Chavez reshuffled his cabinet, replacing 15 ministers and creating two new ministries.

Also on Monday, Chavez called on the nation's legislature, the National Assembly, to give him more power to rule the nation.

In the same speech, he also announced a plan to nationalize telephone company CAN TV and some foreign oil companies.

Chavez said he would ask the National Assembly to give him the power to create revolutionary laws. Then he would reform the nation's constitution to formally commit the country to socialism, create a people's education program via the so-called Ethics and Lights program, and redesign the nation's government to grant more power to local governments.

He said these measures were aimed at nationalizing "everything that had been privatized."

CARACAS, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Hugo Chavez, who was reelected president of Venezuela in December, took the oath of office on Wednesday, promising to deepen socialism and complete the renationalization of key national companies.

"Nation, socialism or death," Chavez said during this swearing on the country's 1999 constitution for his 2007-2013 term, recalling the battle cry of Fidel Castro, Cuba's leader and a personal friend of Chavez.

Speaking to the country's 167-seat legislature, the National Assembly (AN), he said "socialism is the only path for our nation", adding it was the only way to realize the dreams of thousands for a better life.

All the AN's deputies are members of Chavez's ruling Fifth Republic Movement (MVR). Full story>>>

Profile: Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez

CARACAS, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was sworn in for a new six-year term on Wednesday at the National Assembly.

Chavez, who was reelected president of Venezuela on Dec. 3, 2006, has vowed to push ahead with social programs. "I will dedicate my life and my nights to building Venezuelan socialism," he said. Full story>>>