CARACAS, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- Venezuela's National Constituent Assembly (ANC) opened for its first session at the Federal Legislative Palace here on Friday.
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs Delcy Rodriguez was sworn in as the president of the ANC. She promised to represent the Venezuelan people and their demands in the new legislative chamber, which is controversially seen as replacing the opposition-controlled National Assembly or congress.
Rodriguez nominated Aristobulo Isturiz, former vice-president of Venezuela, as her first vice-president, and Isaias Rodriguez as second vice-president, who served as the country's attorney general until 2007.
In her inauguration speech, Rodriguez focused on the legitimacy of the ANC, which has been criticized as a power grab by President Nicolas Maduro.
Maduro proposed the constitutional initiative in May, saying it would help to resolve the political deadlock between the country's leftist and right-wing factions.
"We have come here to remove all obstacles from our path ... which have not allowed us to exercise the validity of our constitution. We will renew it," Rodriguez said, adding that "the ANC can break the darkest phase of the dictatorship."
The opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) as well as some countries and regional blocs, including the United States, Mexico, Colombia and the European Union, have refused to recognize the ANC.
For months, the opposition has led street protests against the ANC and demanding fresh presidential elections, which have left over 120 dead.
Rodriguez addressed this, saying that if the opposition "does not follow a democratic path, justice will be imposed, the ANC is also here to see justice done."
"The international community should not be wrong about Venezuela. The Venezuelans will resolve our problems amongst ourselves, without any foreign intervention," she added.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was jubilant on Twitter, saying "the Constituent has arrived to bring peace and exercise the absolute sovereignty of the Nation."
He added that the ANC would "cross rivers, mountains and roads and will oversee our new history. Nothing nor anybody will stop it. We will triumph."
Stressing that the ANC will be used democratically, Maduro also said it will be used to jail opposition leaders, fire the country's prosecutor-general, and strip opposition legislators of their immunity.
Later in the day, members of the ANC swore an oath at the Mountain Barracks in Caracas, where former President Hugo Chavez rests.
The first full work session for the ANC will begin on Saturday at 10 a.m. local time (1400 GMT), with 538 of 545 deputies present and seven more to be elected in a second vote in two Venezuelan towns.
