Top court ruling attempts to quiet Venezuela birther debate

CARACAS, Venezuela – It’s official: President Nicolas Maduro is Venezuelan.

At least according to a ruling late Friday by the government-stacked Supreme Court that seeks to quiet attempts to disqualify Maduro from holding Venezuela’s highest office on the grounds he might also hold Colombian citizenship.

Opposition lawmakers have declared themselves in open rebellion over the suspension of a recall referendum against Maduro and as part of their campaign to force the socialist leader from office have embraced long-standing claims that he was born in his mother’s native Colombia.

The Supreme Court on Friday said a birth certificate provided irrefutable proof that Maduro was born in Caracas, as electoral authorities and even the U.S. government have long maintained.

Venezuela’s constitution requires the president be born inside the country and hold no other nationality.