The Venezuelan government declared seven days of national mourning and suspended classes until next Friday as it organizes the funeral of President Hugo Chavez that is scheduled to take place at the Military Academy, where he will lie in state beginning Wednesday morning.
Vice-president Nicolas Maduro said on Thursday that Venezuela is willing to have the ‘best possible relations’ with the US government as long as these are based on respect and equality. He added that it was President Hugo Chavez who instructed the newly named Foreign minister Elias Jaua on the issue.
Venezuela President Hugo Chávez has decided to appoint Elías Jaua as the new Minister of Foreign Affairs, announced Venezuelan Vice-President Nicolás Maduro during the Tuesday session at the National Assembly when he submitted the Yearly Report for fiscal year 2012.
Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez delegated certain responsibilities in economic affairs to Vice-President Nicolas Maduro including the right to authorize debt sales and seize assets. The announcement comes at a moment when significant economic decisions must be taken following the profligate spending leading to last October’s election.
Cuban leader Fidel Castro is alive and well, according to Elias Jaua, a former Venezuelan vice president who says he met with Castro over the weekend.
President Hugo Chavez, in Cuba for cancer treatment, named key members of a Council of State Wednesday led by his Vice president, which some analysts see as a potential transitional body.
Surgeons completely removed a lesion from Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez's pelvis and the populist leader is in good physical condition after the operation in Cuba, Venezuela's vice president said on Tuesday.
Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez will run for re-election next year despite his struggle with cancer said Finance Minister Jorge Giordani who underlined there’s no Plan B. Giordani’s statement came as the populist leader is in Cuba undergoing chemotherapy and twitted to his compatriots his “insurmountable optimism”.
Big electricity users in Venezuela have been told to cut consumption or face increased charges. Consumers who save energy will be in line for discounts, officials said. The move comes after a series of recent power failures, the most recent last Friday and Saturday when outages affected most of western Venezuela.