CHAVEZ SUFFERS ‘NEW COMPLICATIONS’
December 31, 2012
AP Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez
said his cancer had come back despite previous surgeries, chemotherapy and
radiation treatment.
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Hugo
Chavez has suffered “new complications” following his cancer surgery in Cuba,
his Vice President said on Sunday, describing the Venezuelan leader’s condition
as delicate.
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ED
Noor: The official address given by VP Maduro is printed in its entirety below.
Vice President Nicolas Maduro spoke with a solemn expression in a televised address from Havana, saying he had spoken with Mr. Chavez and that the President sent greetings to his homeland. Mr. Maduro did not give details about the complications, which he said came amid a respiratory infection.
Vice President Nicolas Maduro spoke with a solemn expression in a televised address from Havana, saying he had spoken with Mr. Chavez and that the President sent greetings to his homeland. Mr. Maduro did not give details about the complications, which he said came amid a respiratory infection.
“Several
minutes ago we were with President Chavez. We greeted each other and he himself
referred to these complications,” Mr. Maduro said, reading from a prepared
statement. Mr. Maduro was seated alongside Mr. Chavez’s eldest daughter, Rosa,
and son-in-law Jorge Arreaza, as well as Attorney General Cilia Flores.
The
Vice President’s comments suggest an increasingly difficult fight for the
ailing President. The Venezuelan leader has not been seen or heard from since
undergoing his fourth cancer-related surgery Dec. 11, and government officials
have said he might not return in time for his scheduled Jan. 10 inauguration
for a new six-year term.
“The
President gave us precise instructions so that, after finishing the visit, we
would tell the (Venezuelan) people about his current health condition,” Mr.
Maduro said. “President Chavez’s state of health continues to be delicate, with
complications that are being attended to, in a process not without risks.”
Mr.
Maduro held up a copy of a newspaper confirming that his message was recorded
on Sunday.
“Thanks
to his physical and spiritual strength, Comandante Chavez is facing this
difficult situation,” Mr. Maduro said.
Mr.
Maduro said he had met various times with Mr. Chavez’s medical team and
relatives. He said he would remain in Havana “for the coming hours” but didn’t
specify how long.
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Mr. Maduro,
who arrived in Havana on Saturday for a sudden and unexpected trip, is the
highest ranking Venezuelan official to visit Mr. Chavez since the surgery.
Before
Mr. Chavez left for Cuba, he acknowledged risks in the operation and designated
Mr. Maduro as his successor, telling supporters they should vote for the Vice
President if a new presidential election was necessary.
Mr.
Chavez said his cancer had come back despite previous surgeries, chemotherapy
and radiation treatment. He has been fighting an undisclosed type of pelvic
cancer since June 2011.
Medical
experts say that it’s common for patients who have undergone major surgeries to
suffer respiratory infections and that how a patient fares can vary widely from
a quick recovery in a couple of days to a fight for life on a respirator.
Mr.
Maduro’s latest update differed markedly from last Monday, when he had said he
received a phone call from the President and that Mr. Chavez was up and
walking.
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The
Vice President spoke on Sunday below a picture of 19th century independence
hero Simon Bolivar, the inspiration of Mr. Chavez’s leftist Bolivarian
Revolution movement.
Mr.
Maduro expressed faith that Mr. Chavez’s “immense will to live and the care of
the best medical specialists will help our President successfully fight this
new battle.” He concluded his message saying- “Long live Chavez.”
Mr.
Chavez has been in office since 1999 and was re-elected in October, three
months after he had announced that his latest tests showed he was cancer-free.
Opposition
politicians have criticized a lack of detailed information about Mr. Chavez’s
condition, and last week repeated their demands for a full medical report.
Information
Minister Ernesto Villegas defended the government’s handling of the situation,
saying during a televised panel discussion on Sunday night that Mr. Chavez “has
told the truth in his worst moments” throughout his presidency.
Villegas
said a government-organized New Year’s Eve concert in a downtown Caracas plaza
had been cancelled, and he urged Venezuelans to pray for Mr. Chavez.
Mr.
Chavez’s daughter Maria, who has been with the President since his surgery,
said in a message on her Twitter account- “Thank you people of Venezuela. Thank
you people of the world. You and your love have always been our greatest
strength! God is with us! We love you!”
Allies
of the President also responded on Twitter, repeating the phrase- “Chavez lives
and will triumph.”
OFFICIAL
COMMUNIQUÉ ON PRESIDENT CHAVEZ’S HEALTH
December 31, 2012
The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela Official Communiqué
Through this message the government of the
Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is fulfilling its responsibility to inform the
Venezuelan public of President Chavez’s clinical progress following his
surgical intervention, carried out in Havana, Cuba, on December 11, 2012.
As is well
known, on 28 December we travelled to Havana on the instructions of the
Commander-President, on the basis of which I transmit the following report. On
arriving in Havana, we went directly to the city hospital in order to
personally bring ourselves up to date on the Commander-President’s state of
health.
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We were told
that new surgical complications had arisen as a result of his now well-known
respiratory infection. Throughout yesterday we remained vigilant as to the progress
of his condition and his response to treatment. We met several times with his
medical team and his closest family members.
A few minutes ago we were with President Chavez, we greeted each other and he himself made reference to these complications.
A few minutes ago we were with President Chavez, we greeted each other and he himself made reference to these complications.
We were able to
give him a run-through of the national situation; the successful taking of
office of 20 Bolivarian governors and the pleasing response to his end of year
message to the Bolivarian National Armed Forces.
Commander Chavez
wanted us to transmit a special end of year greeting to Venezuelan families,
who are gathered together over this period throughout the country; in
particular he wanted to send a warm embrace to the children of Venezuela, and
remind them that they are always in his heart.
The embrace was
extended to all of our people, so that they see in the year 2013 with love; a
year which should bring the greatest of happiness to our homeland, as well as
the definitive consolidation of our independence and national unity.
The president
gave us precise instructions to inform the people of his current state of
health as soon as we left.
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Nineteen days
after having undergone his surgical intervention, President Chavez’s state of
health continues to be delicate; he has presented complications that are being
attended to with treatment that is not without risk.
Thanks to his
physical and spiritual strength, Commander Chavez is fighting this difficult
situation. Likewise, we want to inform the people that we have decided to
remain in Havana for the next few hours to accompany the Commander and his
family and to remain vigilant as to the progress of his current situation.
We trust that
the global avalanche of love and solidarity expressed towards Commander Chavez,
as well as his incredible strength and the care of the best medical
specialists, will help our president to successfully fight this new battle.
LONG LIVE CHÁVEZ!
Havana, 30
December 2012
Translated by Rachael
Boothroyd for Venezuelanalysis
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