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Caribbean-Latin America | ||||
Chavez dwindling | ||||
2012-12-31 | ||||
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is suffering more complications linked to a respiratory infection that hit him after his fourth cancer operation in Cuba, his vice president said in a somber broadcast on Sunday. Vice President Nicolas Maduro flew to Cuba to visit Chavez in the hospital as supporters' fears grew for the ailing 58-year-old socialist leader, who has not been seen in public nor heard from in three weeks.
"Thanks to his physical and spiritual strength, Comandante Chavez is confronting this difficult situation." Maduro said Chavez's condition remained "delicate" - a term he has used since the day after the surgery, when he warned Venezuelans to prepare for difficult times and urged them to keep the president in their prayers. "We trust that the avalanche of love and solidarity with Comandante Chavez, together with his immense will to live and the care of the best medical specialists, will help our president win this new battle," Maduro said.
Chavez's allies have openly discussed the possibility that he may not be able to return to Venezuela to be inaugurated for his third six-year term as president on the constitutionally mandated date of January 10. Senior "Chavista" officials have said the people's wishes were made clear when the president was re-elected in October, and that the constitution makes no provision for what happens if a president-elect cannot take office on January 10. Opposition leaders say any postponement would be just the latest sign that Chavez is not in a fit state to govern and that new elections should be called to choose his replacement. If Chavez had to step down, new elections would be called within 30 days. Opposition figures believe they have a better shot against Maduro, who was named earlier this month by Chavez as his heir apparent, than against the charismatic president who for 14 years has been nearly invincible at the ballot box. Any constitutional dispute over succession could lead to a messy transition toward a post-Chavez era in the country that boasts the biggest oil reserves in the world.
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Posted by:Steve White |
#4 The Finest Health Care in the Western Hemisphere. Mikey Moore told me... |
Posted by: tu3031 2012-12-31 16:19 |
#3 How about some flowers laced with ebola? |
Posted by: gorb 2012-12-31 14:05 |
#2 I'm trying to find my microscopic violin, but having problems remembering where I left it. Maybe I'll just hum a few bars of Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 6 in G major. |
Posted by: Mullah Richard 2012-12-31 09:36 |
#1 As Instapundit often says: "Faster, please" |
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia 2012-12-31 00:08 |