Chavez's VP resigns amid protests at Venezuela TV closure

• Source: Global Times
• [01:35 January 27 2010]
• Comments

By Zhang Wen

Venezuelan Vice President and Defense Minister Ramon Carrizalez resigned Monday, citing personal reasons, as police and protesters clashed in several cities after a major opposition TV station was taken off the air.

Carrizalez, a retired colonel, said in an e-mailed statement from the vice president's office that he was leaving for personal reasons and not because of any disagreement with government policies, according to Bloomberg.

His resignation over alleged differences with President Hugo Chavez had been rumored since Saturday, AFP noted.

Chavez accepted the resignation and thanked Carrizalez for his work, Information Minister Blanca Eckhout said in a brief statement.

A replacement was not announced.

The close Chavez confidant, who is a former army officer like the president, was seen as one of Chavez's more capable administrators.

This month, Chavez fired a recently named electricity minister for botching a Caracas electricity-rationing plan.

"The sudden resignation of the vice president after 10 years of working for Chavez may be related to the recent widespread electricity crisis, since Carrizalez was in charge of coordinating the plan to save electricity in Caracas. And the plan did not really work out," Xu Shideng, a researcher at the Institute of Latin America Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.

State-backed news network Telesur reported that Carrizalez's wife, Environment Minister Yuviri Ortega, also resigned.

Carrizalez denied the resignations had to do with differences with the government, Telesur reported.

Their resignations came as students marched to show their opposition to Chavez's latest move in his quest to advance his socialist agenda, according to AFP.

The government ordered TV stations, including opposition network RCTV, to cease broadcasting at midnight Saturday for refusing to air Chavez's speeches, as required under a law passed in December.

The dropped channels include Ritmo Son, Momentum, America TV, American Network and TV Chile.

The blackout especially rankled baseball fans, who missed Sunday's much-anticipated final local baseball championship game.

One student was reportedly killed and several officials were injured in the western state of Merida, as pro- and anti-government students clashed in cities across the country.

Agencies contributed to this story