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Snapshot: Chavez's designated successor

Published: December 9, 2012 Comment on this article

photo - FILE .- In this Oct. 17, 2006 file photo Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, left, talks with his then Foreign Minister and current Vice-President Nicolas Maduro during a meeting with Chinese businessmen at Miraflores Palace in Caracas, Venezuela. Chavez is to return to Cuba Sunday for another surgery in his battle against cancer, which has led him to speak publicly of a successor for the first time. Chavez said Saturday that if there are "circumstances that prevent me from exercising the presidency further" Vice-President Nicolas Maduro should replace him for the remainder of his term. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano, File)

FILE .- In this Oct. 17, 2006 file photo Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, left, talks with his then Foreign Minister and current Vice-President Nicolas Maduro during a meeting with Chinese businessmen at Miraflores Palace in Caracas, Venezuela. Chavez is to return to Cuba Sunday for another surgery in his battle against cancer, which has led him to speak publicly of a successor for the first time. Chavez said Saturday that if there are "circumstances that prevent me from exercising the presidency further" Vice-President Nicolas Maduro should replace him for the remainder of his term. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano, File)

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EARLY YEARS, UNION ORGANIZING: For a diplomat, Maduro is a man of surprisingly few words. Yet he is also one of the few members of Chavez's government who makes public statements on policy.

He got into politics as a teenager, joining the Socialist League, which sent him to Cuba for training in union organizing. He then became a union organizer in the Caracas Metro system.

During Chavez's visits to Cuba for cancer treatment, the mustachioed Maduro was among the few aides at his side.

When Chavez announced Saturday night that he would be returning to Cuba for cancer surgery, Maduro was sitting beside him. The vice president looked solemn and turned to Chavez with slight wrinkles on his brow when the president mentioned his name.

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