Former Venezuelan vice-president Elias Jaua has been appointed foreign minister, Vice-President Nicolas Maduro announced, saying that ailing President Hugo Chavez had approved the appointment.
Maduro announced the appointment of Jaua, who is known as a pro-Chavez hardliner, when handing to parliament a report on the government's activities in 2012 on Wednesday.
"The president has just announced the appointment of Jaua as foreign minister," said Maduro, who had held the foreign affairs portfolio in addition to the vice-presidency until now.
There is uncertainty about the health of Chavez, who has been at a Cuban hospital since undergoing cancer surgery in Havana in December.
"The truth is our commander is immersed in a battle," Maduro said. "We could say he is climbing up the hill, he is making progress and that fills us with great joy."
Maduro, who is temporarily in charge of the Venezuelan government, returned to Caracas late Monday after visiting Chavez in Havana.
Chavez, 58, was re-elected in October but missed the scheduled swearing-in ceremony for the new term last week. The Supreme Court ruled that his absence would not disqualify Chavez because he is not a newly elected president.
Maduro rejected opposition allegations that the Venezuelan government is currently following orders from Cuba's communist government.
Chavez has undergone four operations for an unspecified form of cancer since mid-2011, the latest of them on December 11.