Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez’s health has taken a turn for the worse as he battles a “new and severe” lung infection in the wake of a trouble-plagued cancer surgery, the government said Monday. In a televised announcement, Information Minister Ernesto Villegas said Chávez’s respiratory problems had grown more severe since the chemotherapy he is receiving in Caracas has left his immune system compromised. “The president’s condition continues to be very delicate,” Villegas read from a prepared statement.
Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic)
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela's vice-president said yesterday that Hugo Chavez is still fighting for his life.
Nicolas Maduro, Chavez's self-appointed successor, said on television that his boss "is battling there for his health, for his life, and we're accompanying him".
The vice-president had characterised Chavez's condition similarly on December 20, saying the president "is fighting a great battle... for his life, for his health".
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President Hugo Chavez's continued silence in the week since his return to Venezuela has only deepened the mystery about his health. While tweets and letters have been issued in Chavez's name, and officials insist they have had long meetings with him, no photos have emerged and even an ally as close as Bolivian President Evo Morales was turned away without a bedside meeting. Some Venezuelans have questioned whether the socialist president is at a military hospital in Caracas at all, whether he even returned from Cuba or whether he is in fact still alive.
President Evo Morales of Bolivia said Wednesday that Hugo Chávez, the cancer-stricken president of Venezuela and one of his closest friends, had endured “most difficult moments” and that Mr. Chávez’s doctors and family were encouraged now that he had returned home, more than two months after surgery and convalescence in Cuba. Speaking to reporters at the United Nations, Mr. Morales said he had not seen Mr. Chávez while visiting Venezuela on Tuesday, a day after the Venezuelan leader’s surprise predawn homecoming.
Hugo Chávez’s stealth return to Venezuela this week, which was carried out with the same signature secrecy that surrounds all aspects of his health status, makes it clearer than ever that Venezuela is leaderless and in need of someone else to take over. Mr. Chávez’s entry was unlike any of his triumphal arrivals from previous overseas trips, which featured adoring crowds cheering the return of their hero. Indeed, his delivery into the country was carried out like a secret intelligence operation.
KINGSTON, Jamaica - AILING President Hugo Chavez has returned to Venezuela, but that is not synonymous with a return to active service as leader of the country. His arrival in Caracas is not likely to silence political opponents salivating at the prospect of his demise, nor will it end the rampant speculation that his precarious health could force him to resign from office. He has been president for 14 years during which time he has been a populist in domestic policy and a nationalist in foreign policy.
CARACAS, Venezuela (UPI) -- Cancer-stricken Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was sent home to die after doctors in Cuba could do nothing more for him, Spain's ABC newspaper reported. The 58-year-old leader -- who returned to Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, at 2_30 a.m. Monday and was rushed to a downtown military hospital after being treated in Havana for complications following Dec. 11 cancer surgery -- is now receiving palliative care after doctors determined no viable cancer treatment would improve his health, the newspaper said, citing sources in contact with Chavez's medical team.
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez returned home to Venezuela early Monday after more than two months of medical treatment in Cuba following cancer surgery. Chavez's return was announced in a series of message on his Twitter account, saying "we will continue our treatment here." "We've arrived once again in our Venezuelan homeland. Thank you, my God!!" the first of the three messages said.
CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela’s currency devaluation took effect on Wednesday amid questions about how the government can get a grip on 22-per cent inflation and satisfy growing demand for dollars to pay for imported goods. Some economists predict that the devaluation won’t solve problems such as a dearth of dollars for imports and shortages of some staple foods. The country’s fifth devaluation in a decade established a new government-set rate of 6.30 bolivars to the dollar, replacing the previous rate of 4.30 bolivars.
HAVANA (Reuters) – Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro said Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is getting “much better” as he recovers from cancer surgery almost two months ago in Havana, Communist Party newspaper Granma reported yesterday. Castro, 86, spoke to reporters as he voted on Sunday in Cuba’s parliamentary elections_ in one of his increasingly rare public appearances. He said he gets daily reports on the condition of Chavez, who is Cuba’s top socialist ally and benefactor. “He is much better, recovering.