By REUTERS

          CARACAS, Venezuela, Jan. 23 -- President Hugo Chávez today
          appointed Isaías Rodríguez, who holds the second-highest post in
          the Constitutional Assembly, to the new position of executive vice
          president of Venezuela.

          The appointment filled what Mr. Chávez described as a crucial political
          job. Mr. Rodríguez, 57, a prominent lawyer, will be in charge of
          day-to-day government affairs and will also coordinate the executive
          branch's relations with Parliament.

          The post was created in a new Constitution approved in a referendum
          last month.

          "I am announcing it to the country," Mr. Chavez said during his weekly
          radio program, "Isaías Rodríguez is vice president from today."

          The affable Mr. Rodríguez, who as first vice president of the powerful
          Constitutional Assembly has been in the media spotlight for the past few
          months, said he was taken by surprise by Mr. Chávez's offer, which he
          received Saturday night.

          Speaking on the same radio program, he promised to carry out "with
          humility and patience" a job that, according to the new Constitution,
          would see him replace the head of state in the event of the president's
          resignation, incapacity or death.

          The Constitutional Assembly was elected for a six-month term that ends
          on Jan. 30, but Mr. Rodríguez said he was leaving his job in that body
          immediately.

          The new Constitution is the cornerstone of the reforms proposed by Mr.
          Chávez, a former army colonel who led an unsuccessful coup attempt in
          1992. He took office a year ago with a popular mandate to reform
          inefficient and corrupt public institutions and improve the lives of the
          poor, who are a majority of the country's 23 million people.

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