MEXICO CITY, August 19 (RIA Novosti) – Venezuelan government resigned on Monday to allow the nation’s President Nicolas Maduro to reshuffle the cabinet, Vice President Jorge Arreaza said.
“We decided together with our teams, vice presidents and ministers to tender resignations to President Nicolas Maduro to give him a free hand at taking steps in terms of the government’s reshuffle,” Noticias24 news agency quoted Arreaza as saying.
According to the vice president, the cabinet’s step-down was a truly “socialist” decision, aimed at improving the government’s efficiency and rooting out excessive bureaucracy and corruption in its midst.
Maduro earlier announced his plans to reshuffle the cabinet, which he described as a “revolution in a revolution.” He said the ultimate goal was a complete overhaul of the executive in order to put it into the people’s service, although no details were revealed.
The Venezuelan leader told the media that his 78-year-old Cuban economic advisor and a lifetime ally of Ernesto Che Guevara, Orlando Borrego, was to help him in this ambitious undertaking.
During the past year Venezuela has experienced a heavy economic downturn due to currency controls, overspending and other economic issues. The result was as deterioration in living conditions.
