Venezuela's Maduro shakes up cabinet after disputed election
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro made significant changes to his cabinet on Tuesday following a hotly contested election in which both the ruling party and opposition claimed victory. The country's supreme court, which the opposition maintains is subservient to Maduro, certified the president's victory last week despite the opposition's claims of widespread vote rigging.
Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro on Tuesday made major changes to his cabinet, including leadership of the oil and finance ministries and state oil company PDVSA, after a contested election both the ruling party and the opposition claim to have won.
The changes, which include a return to the cabinet by ruling party leader and famed hard-liner Diosdado Cabello and a change in duties for Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, who will add the oil ministry to her brief, came as Maduro shifted his rhetoric away from the election dispute and toward promised changes.
The disagreement over the July 28 election has sparked international calls for the release of full vote tallies, deadly protests and moves by the country's prosecutor to investigate the opposition and arrest journalists, even as the opposition insists a change in government is still possible.
The cabinet changes are "a profound renovation of the national government and we are putting together a new team which will help us transition everything for this era, open new paths... speed the changes the people need," Maduro said during an event broadcast live.
Vice President Delcy Rodriguez will remain in her post, but add the oil ministry to her brief, Maduro added, while Anabel Pereira will replace Rodriguez as finance minister.
(Reuters)
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