This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/16/venezuelan-vice-president-hugo-chavez

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Venezuelan vice-president gives speech in place of Hugo Chávez Venezuelan vice-president gives speech in place of Hugo Chávez
(35 minutes later)
The Venezuelan vice-president, Nicolás Maduro, has given a brief state-of-the-nation address in place of his ailing boss, Hugo Chávez, who has not been seen in public since going to Cuba for cancer surgery more than a month ago.The Venezuelan vice-president, Nicolás Maduro, has given a brief state-of-the-nation address in place of his ailing boss, Hugo Chávez, who has not been seen in public since going to Cuba for cancer surgery more than a month ago.
Maduro stood in for Chávez with a 10-minute speech to Congress in which he defended the president's decision to rule the Opec nation from a hospital bed in Havana despite opposition calls for him to step aside and name a temporary leader.Maduro stood in for Chávez with a 10-minute speech to Congress in which he defended the president's decision to rule the Opec nation from a hospital bed in Havana despite opposition calls for him to step aside and name a temporary leader.
"We are following the constitution in an impeccable manner," Maduro, Chávez's heir apparent, told MPs, holding up a copy of the 1999 charter Chávez helped write."We are following the constitution in an impeccable manner," Maduro, Chávez's heir apparent, told MPs, holding up a copy of the 1999 charter Chávez helped write.
The brevity of the speech, in sharp contrast to Chávez's nine-and-a-half-hour address last year, came as a surprise following Maduro's month-long effort to impersonate Chávez's bombastic charisma.The brevity of the speech, in sharp contrast to Chávez's nine-and-a-half-hour address last year, came as a surprise following Maduro's month-long effort to impersonate Chávez's bombastic charisma.
Maduro offered no new information about the president's cancer, which threatens to upend Chávez's self-styled socialist revolution and convulse the political order of a country that holds the world's biggest oil reserves.Maduro offered no new information about the president's cancer, which threatens to upend Chávez's self-styled socialist revolution and convulse the political order of a country that holds the world's biggest oil reserves.
Maduro said Chávez had named a former vice-president, Elías Jaua, as the new foreign minister, a move that supporters are likely to point to as a sign that the president is in control of governance despite his prolonged absence.Maduro said Chávez had named a former vice-president, Elías Jaua, as the new foreign minister, a move that supporters are likely to point to as a sign that the president is in control of governance despite his prolonged absence.
Chávez said last year he was completely cured of cancer and told parliament he believed God had sent him the disease to help him "see better, think better, and study better". He went on to win a new six-year term at an election in October.Chávez said last year he was completely cured of cancer and told parliament he believed God had sent him the disease to help him "see better, think better, and study better". He went on to win a new six-year term at an election in October.
Within weeks of his victory, however, the 58-year-old returned to Cuba for more treatment. He underwent his fourth cancer operation in 18 months on 11 December and has suffered multiple complications since then.Within weeks of his victory, however, the 58-year-old returned to Cuba for more treatment. He underwent his fourth cancer operation in 18 months on 11 December and has suffered multiple complications since then.
Venezuela's government has published a decree signed by Chávez, the first he has signed since his latest cancer surgery. The decree issued Tuesday and published in the government newspaper Official Gazette on Wednesday names former vice president Elias Jaua as Venezuela's new foreign minister.
Opposition leaders pounced on Maduro's address as a further sign of institutional decay caused by the leader of a sovereign nation governing in absentia from overseas.Opposition leaders pounced on Maduro's address as a further sign of institutional decay caused by the leader of a sovereign nation governing in absentia from overseas.
"We are facing an illegitimate government," said the opposition stalwart María Corina Machado. "We demand that decisions about Venezuela be made in Venezuela.""We are facing an illegitimate government," said the opposition stalwart María Corina Machado. "We demand that decisions about Venezuela be made in Venezuela."
Should Chávez step down or die, a new election would likely pit Maduro, 50, against the opposition leader Henrique Capriles, 40, the governor of Miranda state, who lost to Chávez in October.Should Chávez step down or die, a new election would likely pit Maduro, 50, against the opposition leader Henrique Capriles, 40, the governor of Miranda state, who lost to Chávez in October.
Capriles said Maduro's informal announcement designating Jaua, a former stone-throwing student activist, as foreign minister was illegal.Capriles said Maduro's informal announcement designating Jaua, a former stone-throwing student activist, as foreign minister was illegal.
"The only way a minister can be named is through a decree by the president of the republic," Capriles said in a statement."The only way a minister can be named is through a decree by the president of the republic," Capriles said in a statement.
A decree signed by Chávez naming Jaua foreign minister, the first decree with the president's signature since his latest cancer surgery, was published in the government newspaper Official Gazette on Wednesday.
Jaua was tipped as a possible ambassador to Argentina in 2002, but rejected by the government there because of his radical past.Jaua was tipped as a possible ambassador to Argentina in 2002, but rejected by the government there because of his radical past.