Cabinet changes radicalise tone in Venezuela

Significance

New Vice-President Tareck El Aissami, currently governor of Aragua state, is a controversial appointment owing to allegations of complicity in drug and terrorism networks. Meanwhile, the opposition Democratic Unity Movement (MUD) alliance elected Julio Borges as the new president of the National Assembly, while on December 30, seven political prisoners including former Zulia Governor Manuel Rosales were released.

Impacts

• El Aissami’s ascent elevates the risk of removing Maduro in a recall referendum.
• No pragmatic shift in economic policy can be expected from the new finance minister.
• Borges’s appointment may calm inflammatory rhetoric but will not alter the underlying dynamics of constitutional conflict.