A self-styled "apostle" of Hugo Chavez, Nicolas Maduro, who became Venezuela's president Friday, climbed from humble beginnings as a bus driver to the pinnacle of power in the shadow of his charismatic predecessor. "I am the first post-Chavez president in history," he proclaimed hours before taking the oath of office and donning a presidential sash that Chavez made his own for 14 years until his death of cancer on March 5 at age 58.

Venezuelan troops will parade past Nicolas Maduro after he is sworn into office Friday, but keeping their loyalty will be tricky for a leader lacking the charisma and savvy of his predecessor. Since Hugo Chavez's March 5 death, Maduro has staged frequent public events with top military leaders, showing off "civic-military unity" of the leftist regime he inherited from "el comandante." "We have a Chavista armed forces, which is to say patriotic, Bolivarian, revolutionary, anti-imperialist," Maduro said Tuesday. But cracks also have appeared on the facade of unity.

Nicolas Maduro, Venezuelans narrowly voted to continue Hugo Chávez’s revolution, electing his handpicked political heir, Nicolás Maduro, APA reports quoting The New York Times.Election authorities said that with more than 99 percent of the vote counted, Mr. Maduro had 50.6 percent to Mr. Capriles’s 49.1 percent. More than 78 percent of registered voters cast ballots.Mr. Maduro gave a defiant speech that suggested little willingness to make concessions.

Venezuela's acting President Nicolas Maduro was declared the winner of the election to succeed his late mentor Hugo Chavez by a razor-thin margin late Sunday, but his rival refused to concede defeat. The contested result plunged the deeply divided oil-rich South American country into uncertainty, with the handpicked heir of Chavez's socialist revolution declaring victory and opposition leader Henrique Capriles demanding a recount.