Venezuela President names new potential successor

Venezuela's leader Nicolas Maduro named a former interior minister on Wednesday as his vice-president, who would become head of state if Maduro were removed from office this year as the opposition demands.

Maduro told a televised cabinet meeting that he had named to the post Tareck El Aissami, 42, a powerful state governor who cracked down on drug gangs in his time as a minister.

"I have appointed Tareck El Aissami executive vice-president of the republic so that he can take up the role from 2017 to 2018 with his youth, experience, commitment and courage," Maduro said.

Currently governor of the violent northern state of Aragua, El Aissami served as junior security minister and later interior and justice minister under Maduro's late predecessor Hugo Chavez.

The appointment comes as part of a cabinet reshuffle in which Maduro also lined up a new economy and oil minister.

Despite boasting the world's largest oil reserves, falling oil prices coupled with a massive budget deficit have seen Venezuela plunge into deep recession. The economic crisis has prompted severe shortages in basic amenities, such as food and medicines. 

The vice-presidential post holds extra significance this year as Venezuela's centre-right opposition has demanded a popular vote to remove Maduro from office, blaming him for the current economic crisis engulfing the country. Should the opposition be successful, El Aissami would likely assume the presidency until the next election, scheduled to take place in 2019.