Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has made major changes to his cabinet, including bringing in new figures to lead the oil, finance and interior ministries.
Meanwhile protests continue amid his success in disputed elections claimed by Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia.
“Anabel Pereira is the new finance minister, Hector Obregon is the new president of state oil company PDVSA, replacing Pedro Tellechea, who will head the Ministry of Industry and National Production. Vice President Delcy Rodriguez will remain in office, but will add the oil ministry to her portfolio,” Maduro said on state television, as reported by the Guardian, Wednesday (28/8).
Yvan Gil and Vladimir Padrino will retain their positions as foreign minister and defense minister, while ruling party leader Diosdado Cabello will become the new minister of interior, law and peace.
“The changes are a major renovation of the national government and we are forming a new team that will help us make the transition in everything in this era, opening new paths, accelerating the changes that society needs,” Maduro said.
Cabello, a close ally of Maduro’s predecessor, the late Hugo Chavez, will return to the cabinet after serving as second-in-command in the ruling PSUV party. He is a former vice president and legislator and served as interior and justice minister in the early 2000s.
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“Right now, I think Venezuela is on the path to definitive peace, peace with justice, a peace in which people feel that those who act against the constitution and the law will receive justice in due time,” Cabello said.
The changes come amid lingering tensions in the South American country, following elections in July in which Maduro and the opposition, which had led Maduro by an almost insurmountable margin in pre-election polls, claimed victory.
Election observers, opposition members and regional leaders have all expressed strong frustration with Maduro’s claim of victory and there are growing calls for the government to release vote-counting data that could help confirm the election results.
The opposition has released its own data, tabulated from across the country, purporting to show that it beat Maduro by a 2-1 margin. The government has cracked down on protests and opposition members in response, opening an investigation into opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia over his claim that the opposition was the true winner of the election.
Urrutia, who has been rarely seen since the election, has ignored a series of calls to testify as part of the probe. Maria Corina Machado, another prominent opposition figure, has said street protests and international pressure could push Maduro to step down. But the embattled leader has shown little sign he is willing to do so. (I-2)
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