NewsOK member benefits

Chavez announces new Venezuelan Cabinet

Published: October 13, 2012 Comment on this article

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez swore in his new vice president and six other Cabinet ministers on Saturday, less than a week after winning a new mandate to extend his self-styled Bolivarian revolution.

photo - FILE - In this Dec. 18, 2007 file photo Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, left, talks to his Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro at the University of Uruguay in Montevideo, Uruguay. President Hugo Chavez on Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2012, named Nicolas Maduro as his new vice president. Maduro, a former National Assembly member, has headed the foreign ministry since 2006, and is seen as one of the administration's hard-liners. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico, File)

FILE - In this Dec. 18, 2007 file photo Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, left, talks to his Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro at the University of Uruguay in Montevideo, Uruguay. President Hugo Chavez on Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2012, named Nicolas Maduro as his new vice president. Maduro, a former National Assembly member, has headed the foreign ministry since 2006, and is seen as one of the administration's hard-liners. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico, File)

Multimedia

Photoview all photos

Article Gallery: Chavez announces new Venezuelan Cabinet

Former Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro replaced Elias Jaua as Chavez's vice president. The 49-year-old Maduro, a burly former bus driver, is considered the member of Chavez's government with the closest ties to Cuba's Fidel and Raul Castro.

The vice presidential job has assumed new importance because of Chavez's recent struggle with cancer and rumors have circulated that Maduro is being groomed as his successor.

Jaua will be the ruling party's candidate for the governorship of Miranda, Venezuela's second largest state, which is the power base of Henrique Capriles, the rival Chavez beat in Oct. 7 elections.

Among the Cabinet changes was the appointment of Gen. Nestor Reverol as the new minister of the interior and justice, replacing Tareck El Aissami, who will run to be governor of Aragua. Reverol had led Venezuela's anti-drug body.

Page 1 of 2

1 2 Next