Venezuelan President appoints new education and labor ministers

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, appointed this Sunday, May 2, Eduardo Piñate as Minister of Education and Vice-President of the Government for Social and Territorial Socialism; he had been in charge of the Labor portfolio, which will now be headed by the Deputy José Ramón Rivero.

The new appointments take place due to the death, at the age of 74, of Professor Aristóbulo Istúriz last Tuesday, explained the President in a telephone contact through the state channel VTV.

“Regarding this circumstance, this situation that we have had to live with the departure of Aristóbulo (…) I want to announce that I have decided to appoint Professor Eduardo Piñate as Minister of People’s Power for Education and Vice-President of the Government for Social and Territorial Socialism”, he said.

Likewise, he indicated that Deputy José Ramón Rivero would join his cabinet as Minister of Labor.

According to Maduro, Rivero has “great experience” since he was Minister of Labor of the late President Hugo Chávez between 2007 and 2008. “He knows very well all the issues of labor relations throughout the country. He is a man deeply related to the country’s working class,” he added.

Piñate has worked as a professor of history and geography, while Rivero was a union and student leader before entering political life, Maduro explained.

The new Labor Minister reacted via Twitter to his appointment and told Maduro that he could count on all his “disposition” and energy to fulfill “the instructions and orientations he has given to advance the challenges” of the country.

Source: efe