President Hugo Chavez is “gaining strength” as he finishes post-operative care and entering a “new phase” of cancer treatment, Venezuelan Vice President Nicolas Maduro said Sunday.| And if you can't trust a Venezuelan VP, who can you trust? |
The longtime figurehead of the region’s anti-American left could not attend his scheduled inauguration on January 10 because of his poor health and the swearing-in has been postponed indefinitely. The Venezuelan government has admitted that Chavez suffered complications, including a severe pulmonary infection that resulted in “respiratory insufficiency,” but has given no long-term prognosis from doctors.
Almost six weeks after he left Venezuela he is yet to be seen in public and remains, presumably, in a Havana hospital.
Speaking to private Venezuelan television network Televen, Maduro said he had spoken with Chavez on several occasions, including a January 14 visit when he described the president as being “very interested in oil prices.”
“We’re always optimistic in the sense that sooner or later we will have the president here with us,” Maduro said, adding that El Comandante was in good spirits and focused on his treatment.
Venezuela’s opposition on Friday canceled a march planned for January 23, saying it feared Chavez’s ruling party would “incite violence” with its own parallel mass demonstration.