Chavez 'conscious' says his deputy

1 January 2013 Last updated at 22:53 ET

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez is conscious but in a "delicate and complex situation" after a cancer operation in Cuba, his deputy says.

Vice-President Nicolas Maduro said he had seen the president twice in the past two days.

The 58-year-old president has been in power since 1999 and was elected for a fourth term in office in October.

He is due to be sworn in for a new term on 10 January, but it is unclear if he will be able to attend ceremony.

But Mr Maduro angrily denounced speculation the president's health was failing.

Earlier, Venezuelan cabinet ministers prayed for Mr Chavez's recovery during a Mass at the presidential palace in Caracas.

Official New Year celebrations were called off after Mr Maduro announced the president had suffered new complications.

Rumours denounced

Speaking in Havana, Mr Maduro said he had visited Mr Chavez in hospital twice since arriving on Saturday.

"We have faith in God and in the doctors that Hugo Chavez will continue to make progress and sooner or later will emerge from this complex and delicate post-operative state he is in," he told the Latin American satellite network Telesur.

Continue reading the main story

• Born in 1954
• 1992: Leads a failed coup attempt against President Carlos Perez
• 1999: Takes office after winning election
• 2006: Wins another six-year term as president
• 2011: Reveals he is being treated for cancer and has two operations in Cuba
• 2012: Has two more operations
• October 2012: Re-elected for another term as president

But he gave very little further concrete information about the condition of the president, who underwent his operation on 11 December.

He said Mr Chavez gripped his hand "with enormous strength" as they spoke, discussing political matters, the economy in Venezuela and the swearing-in of new governors following regional elections.

He denounced what he called right-wing media rumours about Mr Chavez's health as the work of "mentally ill" people, saying they were inventing and manipulating information without respect for Mr Chavez or his family.

Earlier this year, the president said he had been cleared of a cancer diagnosed in 2011 and was fit to serve out his six-year term.

But on 11 December, he went through his fourth cancer operation in Cuba.

There are also many questions about what will happen on 10 January when Mr Chavez is due to be re-inaugurated, says the BBC's Sarah Rainsford in Havana, adding that it is now three weeks since Mr Chavez has been seen or heard from.

National Assembly head Diosdado Cabello recently said that the swearing-in ceremony would be delayed in the case of Mr Chavez's absence.

But the opposition says such move would be unconstitutional.

The Venezuelan constitutions states that a new election should be called in 30 days should the president not be fit enough to attend his inauguration, the opposition argues.

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Call for law to mark Delhi victim

2 January 2013 Last updated at 00:03 ET

An Indian minister has called on the authorities to reveal the name of the Delhi gang-rape victim so that a new anti-rape law can be named after her.

Junior Education Minister Shashi Tharoor said unless the parents of the the 23-year-old medical student objected, she should be honoured.

The victim died over the weekend in a Singapore hospital where she was being treated for severe injuries.

The 16 December attack in a bus has caused a national outcry.

The woman and a male friend had been to see a film when they boarded the bus in the Munirka area of Delhi, intending to travel to Dwarka in the south-west of the city.

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Clearly, many Indian women face threats to life at every stage - violence, inadequate healthcare, inequality, neglect, bad diet, lack of attention to personal health and well-being"

End Quote

Police said she was raped for nearly an hour, and both she and her companion were beaten with iron bars, then thrown out of the moving bus into the street.

On Tuesday, police sources said the driver of the bus had tried to run her over after throwing her out, but she was saved by her friend, Press Trust of India (PTI) reported.

Police are expected to formally charge five of six suspects with murder on Thursday. If convicted, they could face the death penalty, which is rarely carried out in India.

The sixth suspect is reported to be under 18 and a juvenile. Police have ordered a bone test for him to confirm his age.

'Name and honour her'

"Wondering what interest is served by continuing anonymity of the Delhi gang rape victim. Why not name and honour her as a real person with own identity?" Mr Tharoor wrote on the micro-blogging site Twitter late on Tuesday.

"Unless her parents object, she should be honoured and the revised anti-rape law named after her. She was a human being with a name, not just a symbol," he wrote.

Social activist and former police officer Kiran Bedi supported Mr Tharoor's idea.

"What Mr Tharoor has said is maybe unique to India, but is not unique in the world," Reuters quoted her as saying.

"Many of the American laws... which have been made to perpetuate the memory or the suffering of the victim, only to remember that this is what happened and this is the spirit behind the law... I think it's a good idea," she said.

But some critics called Mr Tharoor's suggestion "deplorable" and India's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party vowed to "oppose any such move".

On Tuesday, the victim's ashes were scattered by her family in the river Ganges.

The brutal assault of the woman has sparked massive public outrage in the country.

It led to huge demonstrations with protesters expressing anger over attitudes to women in India and calling for changes to the laws on violence against women.

The Indian government was also heavily criticised for its response to the attack, which many called "slow" and inadequate.

Safety helpline

According to official figures, a woman is raped in Delhi every 14 hours, while women across the country say they are frequently subjected to sexual intimidation and violence.

Officials have since announced a series of measures intended to make the city safer for women.

These include more police night patrols, checks on bus drivers and their assistants, and the banning of buses with tinted windows or curtains.

The government has also set up a committee under a retired Supreme Court judge to recommend changes to the anti-rape law.

Late on Monday, the authorities in Delhi launched a new telephone helpline for women in distress. The 24-hour helpline number 181 will operate out of Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit's office and will be connected with all the 185 police stations across the city.

But many of the protesters say that women are viewed as second-class citizens, and that a fundamental change in culture and attitudes, backed up by law, is needed to protect them.

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Obama praises 'fiscal cliff' deal

2 January 2013 Last updated at 04:23 ET

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Barack Obama: "The deficit is still too high"

US President Barack Obama has hailed a deal reached to avert a "fiscal cliff" of huge tax rises and spending cuts.

After the House of Representatives passed the bill by 257 votes to 167, Mr Obama said the measures were "just one step in the broader effort to strengthen the economy".

It raises taxes for the wealthy and delays spending cuts for two months.

There had been intense pressure for the vote to be passed before financial markets reopened on Wednesday.

Financial markets have responded positively to the move.

In Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index opened up 2.1% on Wednesday morning, while South Korea's Kospi added 1.7% and Australia's ASX 200 rose 1.2%.

UK shares jumped 1.5% on opening, German stocks gained by 1.6%, while France's Cac 40 rose 1.4% and Italy's stocks gained 2%.

Economists' warnings

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

The president's tone after the vote was not conciliatory"

End Quote

In Tuesday night's house vote, 172 Democrats and 85 Republicans voted in favour of the bill.

A majority of Republicans, 151 in total, voted no, along with 16 Democrats.

The bill had been passed in the Senate less than 24 hours earlier by 89 votes to eight after lengthy talks between Vice-President Joe Biden and Senate Republicans.

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US media reaction

Jonathan Weisman in the New York Times says the deal revealed a new breed of Republicans, who seemed "determined to put themselves in a position to be blamed for sending the nation's economy into a potential tailspin under the weight of automatic tax increases and spending cuts".

In the Washington Post, Zachary A Goldfarb says the deal averted "a dangerous dose of austerity but still leaves the economy vulnerable to both immediate and more distant threats", warning that it is "too modest", does nothing to address unemployment and "fails to defuse the prospect of a catastrophic national default two months from now".

Writing for Forbes magazine, John Zogby says more was at stake in the negotiations that the economy, "namely, the question of whether or not Congress could still be a viable, problem-solving body or whether it was doomed to irrelevance". Both parties had to show they could work together, he says. "And at the last minute, they did just that. And their ultimate reward: they saved their own butts."

Speaking before returning to Hawaii for his interrupted Christmas holiday, Mr Obama said that in signing the law he was fulfilling a campaign pledge.

"I will sign a law that raises taxes on the wealthiest 2% of Americans... while preventing a middle-class tax hike," he told a White House press conference.

The US deficit was still too high, he said: While open to compromise on budgetary issues, he would not offer Congress spending cuts in return for lifting the government's borrowing limit, known as the debt ceiling.

"There is a path forward, if we focus not on politics, but on what's right for the country," added Mr Obama.

The "fiscal cliff" measures - cutting spending and increasing taxes dramatically - came into effect automatically at midnight on Monday when George W Bush-era tax cuts expired.

The 1 January deadline triggered tax increases of about $536bn and spending cuts of $109bn from domestic and military programmes.

Continue reading the main story

At the scene

Adam Blenford BBC News, Capitol Hill

---

In the end, it was settled after a tense meeting of House Republicans in a basement conference room.

When a stony-faced Speaker John Boehner left the room an hour later, one Congressman was overheard on the phone - it was "looking like a long night", he said, apologetically. Out of the basement, the smell of pizza wafted through the ornate House corridors. If the fiscal cliff was going to hurt ordinary Americans, the threat of it did no harm to one pizza parlour just a short hop down Pennsylvania Avenue.

Before the final vote, dissenters and supporters lined up to make their point. "Common sense has prevailed," one Democrat declared; a prominent Republican said he simply did not believe spending cuts would eventually be delivered. But as the votes rolled in, House members stood on the floor and watched as the scoreboard lit up, and applauded - briefly - when the crucial 217th vote was cast.

Economists had warned that if the full effects of the fiscal cliff were allowed to take hold, the resulting reduction in consumer spending could have sparked a new recession.

The compromise deal extends the tax cuts for Americans earning under $400,000 (£246,000) - up from the $250,000 level Democrats had originally sought.

In addition to the income tax rates and spending cuts, the package includes:

• Rises in inheritance taxes from 35% to 40% after the first $5m for an individual and $10m for a couple
• Rises in capital taxes - affecting some investment income - of up to 20%, but less than the 39.6% that would prevail without a deal
• One-year extension for unemployment benefits, affecting two million people
• Five-year extension for tax credits that help poorer and middle-class families

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Burma military 'targeting rebels'

2 January 2013 Last updated at 04:45 ET

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The BBC's Jonah Fisher on the video, shot by aid group Free Burma Rangers

Military aircraft have been targeting rebel areas in Burma's northern Kachin state over the last five days, video obtained by the BBC shows.

The footage, shot by the humanitarian group Free Burma Rangers, shows attack helicopters firing on the ground and jets flying close to the trenches of the rebel Kachin Independence Army.

A government official said the army had not informed them of any air attacks.

Fighting with the Kachin rebels resumed in 2011, after a 17-year truce.

The presence of jets and attack helicopters in recent days was also confirmed by witnesses in the area.

It is not clear how many casualties have been caused by five days of air attacks. Many of the people who live in the conflict areas have already fled into camps, both in Kachin and across the border in China.

Asked to comment on the video, the director of the president's office, Zaw Htay, said the situation was complex, and that the military had told them they were only using planes to re-supply its troops.

"The aircraft being used are K8 training aircraft not fighter jets - that is the information I got from the military," he said.

"I have no information on the use of helicopters. There is a very difficult situation in Kachin state."

He added that they wanted to hold peace talks with the rebels as soon as possible.

Beyond self-defence

The witness accounts, along with the video footage, suggest that the army is going beyond Thein Sein's public instructions to only fight in self-defence, says the BBC's Jonah Fisher in Bangkok.

At present, it appears that the military could be making preparations for a full-blown offensive on the rebel headquarters of Laiza, our correspondent adds.

The Free Burma Rangers filmed the footage while in rebel trenches.

The group describes itself as "a multi-ethnic humanitarian service movement", according to its website. The group works to provide aid in Burma's troubled border regions.

An estimated 75,000 people have been displaced by fighting in resource-rich Kachin since the conflict re-started in 2011 after the end of a 17-year-old ceasefire between the rebels and the Burmese military.

Despite appeals from the international aid community, the Burmese government has allowed only a handful of convoys to deliver supplies to those sheltering in rebel areas.

Burma has seen a series of dramatic reforms since the nominally civilian government under Thein Sein came to power last year.

But rights groups have also urged caution, pointing to violent unrest through 2012 in parts of the country like western Rakhine state, which has displaced more than a hundred thousand people.

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Cabinet attends mass for Chavez

31 December 2012 Last updated at 18:20 ET

Venezuelan cabinet ministers got together to pray for the recovery of President Hugo Chavez, who is in Cuba recovering from a cancer operation.

They took part in a mass held at the presidential palace in Caracas.

Official New Year celebrations were called off on Sunday after Vice-President Nicolas Maduro announced that Mr Chavez had suffered new complications.

The 58-year-old president is due to be sworn in for a new term on 10 January.

"The government is united, we are all praying for his health to recover so he can return to our country," said Federal District governor Jacqueline Farias.

Elsewhere in the Venezuelan capital, at the San Francis church, some 300 people attended another mass for Mr Chavez.

Correspondents in Caracas describe the end-of-year atmosphere as subdued, yet calm.

Mr Chavez, who has been in power since 1999, was elected in October for a fourth term in office.

Earlier this year, he said he had been cleared of a cancer diagnosed in 2011 and was fit to serve out his six-year term.

But on 11 December, he went through his fourth cancer operation in Cuba.

Huge secrecy

Continue reading the main story

• Born in 1954
• 1992: Leads a failed coup attempt against President Carlos Perez
• 1999: Takes office after winning election
• 2006: Wins another six-year term as president
• 2011: Reveals he is being treated for cancer and has two operations in Cuba
• 2012: Has two more operations
• October 2012: Re-elected for another term as president

The BBC's Sarah Rainsford in Havana says it is now three weeks since Hugo Chavez has been seen or heard from in person.

There are also many questions about what will happen on 10 January when Mr Chavez is due to be re-inaugurated, our correspondent adds.

National Assembly head Diosdado Cabello recently said that the swearing-in ceremony would be delayed in the case of Mr Chavez's absence.

But the opposition says such move would be unconstitutional.

The Venezuelan constitutions states that a new election should be called in 30 days should the president not be fit enough to attend his inauguration, the opposition argues.

Vice-president Nicolas Maduro went to Cuba on Saturday to meet Mr Chavez.

In a televised announcement from Havana on Sunday, he said that the president had "suffered new complications" and that his health state remained "delicate".

"We have been informed of new complications that arose as a consequence of the respiratory infection we already knew about," he said.

He added that the treatment was "not without risk."

Following Mr Maduro's announcement, Information Minister Ernesto Villegas appeared in a special programme on Venezuelan TV, calling on Venezuelans not to believe rumours about the president's health.

Late on Sunday, Mr Villegas said a government-organised New Year's Eve concert in central Caracas had been cancelled and he urged Venezuelans to pray for President Chavez.

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N Korea's Kim in rare TV speech

31 December 2012 Last updated at 23:49 ET

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Kim Jong-un stressed the need to "remove confrontation" between the two Koreas

The North Korean leader has delivered a new year's message on state TV, the first such broadcast for 19 years.

Kim Jong-un, in power since 2011, spoke of the need to improve the economy and also to reunify the Koreas, warning that confrontation only led to war.

The speech came less than a month after the conservative Park Geun-hye was elected president of South Korea.

In 1994, Mr Kim's grandfather, Kim Il-sung, spoke on radio and TV. His son, Kim Jong-il rarely spoke in public.

In addition to Mr Kim's televised address, new year's messages were issued in the form of a joint editorial by North Korea's three main newspapers.

Musical performance

Kim Jong-un said 2013 would be a year of creations and changes, calling for a "radical turnabout" that would transform the impoverished, isolated state into an "economic giant" and raise living standards.

But while he said confrontation between the North and the South should be removed, Mr Kim stressed that military power remained a national priority.

"The military might of a country represents its national strength. Only when it builds up its military might in every way can it develop into a thriving country," he said.

The message coincides with UN Security Council discussions on how to punish Pyongyang for a recent long-range rocket launch.

Under Mr Kim's leadership, North Korea has conducted two long-range rocket launches - actions condemned by the US and Pyongyang's neighbours as banned tests of missile technology.

The launch in April failed, but December's attempt appears to have been a success, placing a satellite into orbit.

The US, Japan and South Korea are seeking a response in the UN Security Council, which banned North Korea from missile tests after nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009.

Kim Jong-un saw in the new year by watching a musical performance with his wife, North Korean state media reported.

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US Senate approves key tax deal

1 January 2013 Last updated at 05:47 ET

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President Obama said a larger deal could be accomplished "in several steps"

The US Senate has approved a deal to avert general tax hikes and spending cuts known as the "fiscal cliff".

The bill, which raises taxes for the wealthy, came after lengthy talks between Vice-President Joe Biden and Senate Republicans.

The House is due to consider it later. Spending cuts have been delayed for two months to allow a wider agreement.

Congress missed the deadline to pass a bill, but few effects will be felt as Tuesday is a US public holiday.

Tax cuts approved during the presidency of George W Bush formally expired at midnight (05:00 GMT).

Without approval in the House, huge tax rises for virtually all working Americans will kick in automatically.

Analysts warned that if the full effects of the fiscal cliff were allowed to take hold, the resulting reduction in consumer spending could spark a new recession.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

American politicians certainly know how to take it to the wire - and just a little bit beyond"

End Quote

The compromise deal reached on Monday seeks to avoid this by extending the tax cuts for Americans earning under $400,000 (£246,000) - up from the $250,000 level Democrats had originally sought.

A huge spending cut that would see $1.2tn cut from the federal budget over 10 years has been deferred for two months, allowing Congress and the White House to reopen negotiations.

The Senate approved the compromise bill by 89-8. "If we do nothing, the threat of a recession is very real," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, said. "Passing this agreement does not mean negotiations halt, far from it."

In addition to the income tax rates and spending cuts, the package includes:

Continue reading the main story

What is the fiscal cliff?

• On 1 January 2013, tax rises and huge spending cuts come into force - the so-called fiscal cliff
• The deadline was put in place in 2011 to force the president and Congress to reach agreement on the budget over the next 10 years
• Date coincides with expiry of Bush-era tax cuts
• There are fear that raising taxes while massively cutting spending will have a huge impact on households and businesses
• The fiscal squeeze could also push the US into recession, and have a global impact

• Rises in inheritance taxes from 35% to 40% after the first $5m for an individual and $10m for a couple

• Rises in capital taxes - affecting some investment income - of up to 20%, but less than the 39.6% that would prevail without a deal

• One-year extension for unemployment benefits, affecting two million people

• Five-year extension for tax credits that help poorer and middle-class families

'Imperfect solution'

President Barack Obama welcomed the Senate vote.

"Leaders from both parties in the Senate came together to reach an agreement that passed with overwhelming bipartisan support today that protects 98% of Americans and 97% of small business owners from a middle class tax hike," he said in a statement.

Continue reading the main story

Press reaction

Jennifer Steinhauer in The New York Times writes: "The confusing struggle to head off a national fiscal crisis has made one thing crystal clear: The era of the Big Deal is over."

In The Washington Post, David A Fahrenthold says:"The New Year's Eve agreement between [Vice-President Joe] Biden and [Senate Minority Leader Mitch] McConnell provided a glimpse at the ways that personality quirks and one-to-one relationships can still change the course of Washington politics."

The Wall Street Journal says: "The wider deal doesn't do much to control the US's long-term budget woes, which are driven largely by entitlement spending, especially on health care, left untouched in this agreement."

"While neither Democrats nor Republicans got everything they wanted, this agreement is the right thing to do for our country and the House should pass it without delay."

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, said: "It took an imperfect solution to prevent our constituents from a very real financial pain, but in my view, it was worth the effort."

The BBC's Mark Mardell in Washington says many of the Republicans who dominate the House dislike the deal and may stand on their principle.

Speaker John Boehner said the House would consider the deal but left open the possibility of amending the Senate bill - which would spark another round of legislation.

"Decisions about whether the House will seek to accept or promptly amend the measure will not be made until House members... have been able to review the legislation," Mr Boehner and other House Republican leaders said in a statement.

The current House can legislate until Wednesday, when it is replaced by a new chamber chosen during last November's election.

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Ivory Coast crush 'kill dozens'

1 January 2013 Last updated at 06:17 ET

At least 60 people have been crushed to death during New Year festivities in Ivory Coast's commercial capital, Abidjan, local media say.

The incident occurred in the early hours of Tuesday in the central Plateau area of the city. About 200 people are also reported to have been injured.

Many of the victims are said to have been children.

How the crush happened is still unclear.

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Hillary Clinton has blood clot

30 December 2012 Last updated at 23:57 ET

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been admitted to hospital in New York with a blood clot, officials say.

Mrs Clinton suffered a concussion earlier this month after fainting and falling down.

At the time, she was reported to have had a stomach virus and to have passed out after becoming dehydrated.

Mrs Clinton, 65, is due to stand down as secretary of state before US President Barack Obama officially begins his second term in January.

Doctors discovered the clot during a follow-up examination on Sunday, her spokesman Philippe Reines said.

"She is being treated with anti-coagulants and is at New York-Presbyterian Hospital so that they can monitor the medication over the next 48 hours," he said.

"They will determine if any further action is required."

No information was given about where the blood clot had formed.

Mrs Clinton is due to give evidence before a Congressional committee in January in connection with the attack in September on the US consulate in the Libyan city of Benghazi.

The US ambassador to Libya and three American officials were killed in the incident.

Mrs Clinton was appointed secretary of state at the start of Mr Obama's first term, in January 2009.

Her most recent foreign trip was to Dublin earlier this month.

Mrs Clinton, 65, is known for her gruelling travel schedule.

She is the most travelled secretary of state in history, having visited 112 countries while in the job, the Associated Press says.

Earlier this month, President Obama nominated Senator John Kerry - the Massachusetts Democrat who heads the Senate Foreign Relations Committee - to replace Mrs Clinton as secretary of state.

She has repeatedly said that she only intended to serve one term in the post.

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Chavez suffers new complications

31 December 2012 Last updated at 03:21 ET

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has suffered "new complications" after a cancer operation in Cuba, his vice-president has said.

In a televised address from Cuba, Nicolas Maduro said Mr Chavez continued to be in a "delicate state".

Mr Chavez underwent his fourth cancer operation on 11 December in Cuba but suffered a respiratory infection.

The president - who has been in power since 1999 - is due to be sworn in on 10 January for another six-year term.

Mr Maduro did not give details about Mr Chavez's condition but said the latest complications were connected to the respiratory infection.

"We have been informed of new complications that arose as a consequence of the respiratory infection we already knew about," he said.

"The president gave us precise instructions so that, after finishing the visit, we would tell the (Venezuelan) people about his current health condition.

"The state of health of President Chavez continues to be delicate."

He added that the treatment was "not without risk."

Mr Maduro, appearing solemn, spoke alongside Mr Chavez's eldest daughter, Rosa, his son-in-law Jorge Arreaza, and Venezuelan Attorney General Cilia Flores.

The vice-president said he would remain in Havana "for the coming hours" but did not specify how long.

Secrecy over condition

Continue reading the main story

Chavez's career

• Born in 1954
• 1992: Leads a failed coup attempt against President Carlos Perez
• 1999: Takes office after winning election
• 2006: Wins another six-year term as president
• 2011: Reveals he is being treated for cancer and has two operations in Cuba
• 2012: Has two more operations
• October 2012: Re-elected for another term as president

Following Mr Maduro's announcement, Information Minister Ernesto Villegas appeared in a special programme on Venezuelan TV, calling on Venezuelans not to believe rumours about the president's health.

"Do not get carried away with things on Twitter, you cannot play with Commander Chavez's health, it is a matter that affects the lives of others. We must act very responsibly, particularly those of us who communicate through mass media," he said.

Late on Sunday, Mr Villegas said a government-organised New Year's Eve concert in central Caracas had been cancelled and he urged Venezuelans to pray for President Chavez.

The BBC's Sarah Rainsford in Havana says it is now three weeks since Hugo Chavez has been seen or heard from in person.

There continues to be huge secrecy surrounding his precise condition, she says.

Continue reading the main story

Venezuelan constitution

• Article 231: The president-elect shall take office on January 10 of the first year of their constitutional term, by taking an oath before the National Assembly. If for any reason, (they) cannot be sworn in before the National Assembly, they shall take the oath of office before the Supreme Court.
• Article 233:(...) When an elected President becomes absolutely absent prior to inauguration, a new election...shall be held within 30 days.
• Article 234: When the President is temporarily unable to serve, they shall be replaced by the Executive Vice-President for a period of up to 90 days, which may be extended by resolution of the National Assembly for an additional 90 days.

There are also many questions about what will happen on 10 January when Mr Chavez is due to be re-inaugurated, our correspondent adds.

National Assembly head Diosdado Cabello recently said that the swearing-in ceremony would be delayed in the case of Mr Chavez's absence.

However, opposition leaders say postponing the inauguration would be unconstitutional.

The constitution states that if there is an "absolute absence" of the president, elections must be held within 30 days.

Mr Chavez has said that, should his health fail, Venezuelans should vote for Mr Maduro in fresh elections.

Officials have never disclosed the type or severity of Mr Chavez's cancer, which was first diagnosed in June 2011.

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