Nicolas Maduro: The Next President of Venezuela?

Nicolas Maduro

Current Vice President and former Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro, is officially in charge of the Presidency of Venezuela, after the sudden trip of President Hugo Chavez to Cuba for an urgent surgery.

He is a former militant of the Socialist League of Caracas, who began at an early age as a driver in the Caracas subway system and  then run the union. Later, Maduro became part of the ranks of the Movimiento V República (MVR) party that participated in the presidential campaign, in which Hugo Chavez was elected President of Venezuela.

In 1999, Maduro was part of the Assembly that drafted the new constitution. He was an Assembly member until 2006, same year when he was appointed Foreign Minister, replacing Minister Ali Rodriguez Araque, becoming the confidant of the Colonel and part of his inner circle.

Hugo Chavez and Nicolas Maduro

As Foreign Minister, Nicolas Maduro accompanied Chavez to the last election in October 10, 2012. Three days later, he was appointed by the Colonel as Vice president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

If President Chavez died, Venezuela’s Constitution specifies that the Vice President assumes the presidency until new elections.

Through radio and television, Hugo Chavez asked the Venezuelan people to vote for Nicolas Maduro for the presidency, if there’s something prevent a him  to exercise the presidency.

Maduro, who is married to Cilia Flores, current Attorney General of Venezuela, is considered by Chavez as “one of the young leaders with great capacity to continue his Bolivarian revolution”. He is 50 years old.