 The Assembly elected him as Speaker, a role he held from 2005 until 2006.Maduro was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs in 2006, and served under Chávez in that position until being appointed vice president of Venezuela in October 2012, after the presidential elections.During his tenure as foreign minister, according to BBC Mundo, "he was considered a key player in pushing the foreign policy of his country beyond Latin American borders to approach almost any government that rivaled the United States."