CARACAS (Reuters) – After rising from bus driver to union leader to vice president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro could soon be at the helm of the South American OPEC nation if a third bout of cancer pulls President Hugo Chavez out of office.
Anointed as the former soldier’s successor, Maduro is the most popular of Chavez’s inner circle and the most qualified to carry on his oil-financed socialism.
Maduro, who is seen as a moderate who has developed alliances around the world during six years a s foreign minister, would assume power if Chavez has to step aside. He would then have to run as the Socialist Party’s candidate in an election against the opposition.
Because he has stuck so closely to Chavez’s official line, it is difficult to know what Maduro’s policies might be if he were leading the country on his own.
His experience as a union leader taught Maduro the importance of dialogue, suggesting he could begin mending fences with business leaders and the opposition after a decade of hostility.
But he will face intense pressure from ideological radicals and self-interested profiteers who have enriched themselves under Chavez’s government to extend the state’s grip over the economy and private enterprise.
Maduro’s first speech after being named successor indicated he is likely to assume Chavez’s blustering rhetoric while presenting himself as a disciple of the cancer-stricken leader.
