Venezuela president makes major cabinet reshuffle

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro has announced a major cabinet reshuffle in an attempt to tackle the country’s economic woes.

Maduro on Wednesday named Luis Salas, a professor at the Bolivarian University of Venezuela, as vice president for the economy. Salas was also named head of the newly-established Ministry for Productive Economy.

“We are facing a new economic emergency; and in the coming days, I will present a rescue plan,” Maduro said while announcing the changes in his cabinet in a speech on state television.

The Venezuelan leader, who had earlier split the former Economy, Finance and Bank Ministry into two separate ministries, appointed another academic, Rodolfo Medina, as the finance and banks minister.