Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro launched a "government of the streets" Monday with new finance and interior ministers, even as his election to replace the late Hugo Chavez remained in dispute. Other key ministers who had been appointed by Chavez were confirmed in their posts, including the foreign, defence and energy portfolios in a line-up that also ratified Chavez's son-in-law Jorge Arreaza as vice president.
The changes suggested that Maduro, who narrowly escaped defeat at the polls April 14, intends to tackle two major sources of public discontent - an inflation-ravaged economy and soaring violent crime. "We have to control inflation, the speculative factors that affect prices, and guarantee more national products," Maduro said in announcing his so-called "government of the streets" late Sunday.
He split the ministry of planning and finance in two, naming central bank chief Nelson Merentes the new finance minister to replace Jorge Giordani, who was left in charge of the separate planning ministry. Giordani was the architect of a system of strict foreign currency controls that critics say have contributed to shortages, a sharp decline in investments and Latin America's highest inflation rate, at more than 20 percent.
Maduro praised Giordani as "one of the most loyal men Chavez had," but said Merentes was "a brain on the economy" who would bring new ideas on how to control speculation and inflation. He also named his intelligence chief, Miguel Rodriguez Torres, as minister of the interior and justice "to protect and build the foundations of peace" in a country with one of the world's highest murder rates.
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