BRASILIA - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who has been in power since 1998, said Wednesday he did not know when he would hand power, adding that no successor was in sight for now.

"When do I plan to hand over to my successor? I do not have that planned," the visiting Venezuelan president told reporters alongside Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. "I don't have a successor in sight at the moment."

The leftist Lula is highly popular, but barred from the constitution from seeking reelection a second time.

"Eight years have gone by and Lula has to go, the constitution says so," Chavez said.

In Venezuela, however, Chavez allies amended the constitution to allow unlimited reelection. There have been 11 elections since he took power, the Venezuelan president said.

Venezuela's next presidential elections are in December 2012.

"Then we'll see," Chavez said. "If I am there, then we'll see if the Venezuelan people and the party I represent decide I should be a candidate again. That has not been determined or decided yet."

Chavez has said in the past that his political plans at the helm of his "socialist revolution" stretch to 2030.

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