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Miraflores Palace via Reuters
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez smiles during a Council of Ministers meeting in Havana on March 11, 2012. Chavez will return home next week from Cuba where he is recovering from surgery to remove a cancerous tumor.
Chatting for more than two hours in a televised address from Havana, where he is recovering from a third surgery to treat cancer in his pelvic area, Chavez seemed eager to show he is fully in command of the government despite his illness.
"Today we are in the 13th day post-operation, with completely normal vital signs, a good general state of health and with no complications, good scarring, daily monitoring, rehabilitation and long walks," he said, reading off a document with details about his cancer treatment.
"In the coming weeks we will start the already announced phase of radiation therapy," Chavez said wearing a windbreaker with the colors of the Venezuelan flag.
During his recovery he said he was reading many books, quoting from a thick volume by Marxist philosopher Istvan Meszaros.
Since arriving in Cuba on Feb. 24, Chavez has been firing off upbeat tweets, meeting with foreign leaders and phoning state TV, in what could be preparation for a triumphant homecoming.
"God willing, next Sunday afternoon I will be in Caracas," the 57-year-old leader said at the end of the pre-recorded broadcast.
Tough campaign ahead
Chavez linked up via satellite with his vice president and other ministers back in Venezuela presiding over the inaugurations of government projects, like a chicken farm jointly owned with an Argentine company.
He approved the issue of a bond in local currency for some $2.325 million due between 2015 and 2017 to spend in the agricultural sector with the participation of a government fund and state oil company PDVSA.
According to analysts, those bonds will be bought by local banks to replace government-mandated quotas of agriculture sector loans, which banks have been struggling to meet.
Venezuela's leftist government is on a massive spending push, funded by oil dollars from the coffers of South America's largest crude exporter, to win over poor voters with popular welfare programs, including job training and new housing units.
The side effects from radiation may slow down Chavez's gregarious on-the-street campaigning style - where he is known to meet with recipients of the state's largess in person - just as he faces a formidable race against 39-year old opposition candidate Henrique Capriles.
He may instead have to fall back on "virtual campaigning" through frequent Twitter posts, pre-recorded televised speeches and phone calls to state television.
Little is known about what kind of cancer the president has or how serious it is, but medical experts say the radiation treatment could take a heavy physical toll.
Capriles, a former state governor, won a strong mandate in a primary election last month and is expected to contrast his energetic and youthful image with Chavez's convalescence.
Opinion polls show Chavez, in power since 1999 and omnipresent in the media, still has the edge over Capriles in voter enthusiasm, although roughly a third of the electorate is still undecided.
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Nuke him real good.
We should all hope for the best outcome.
Take that any way that you wish.
Thank you kindly I agree.
Bill1942, do you dislike him because he is not like you or do you know something even the Venezuelans don't. If you are going be what is said on the news about him then that would explain a lot. Keep believing everything you hear on the web.
I am not a Venezuelan so I have no idea if he is a good president or not. Only Venezuelans could say for sure. That being said, I still do not wish death on anyone especially a person I really know nothing about. I know the poor really like him so he can't be that bad. I'm sure he is hated by the 1 percenters though.
Let Venezuelans handle their own affairs. We have enough of our own problems here at home.
WOW....
Clearly you are "on the left side" as your use of the "1%ers" As am American that has lived in La Lagunita (Caracas) and knows the situation....
1. The "1%" are mostly now New-Rich Chavistas. Nicolas Maduro, second in command after Rangel, was a BUS DRIVER 12 YEARS AGO. Chavez' staff is full of Cooks, Teachers, and unemployeed, uneducated people he can control.
2. Miami is filled with Trashy New Venezuelans. These are the folks that were community Organizers, now in charge of "dishing out" $$$$ to neighborhoods. The cash never gets to the neighborhood. ;)
3. One way Chavez won the last election by giving FREE Rice & Coca Cola to poor people. They had to Vote, then get in line for the free goods. The Cargill Rice Plant had to write off over 1,000,000 pounds of Rice. Coca Cola lost 18,000 cases.... CHAVEZ HAD THE MILITARY OPEN THE PLANTS ON ELECTION DAY (SUNDAY) AND TAKE (STEAL) THE PRODUCT.
To ATSP,
I'm sure you preferred the old wealthy class.The ones that sucked the country dry,pretty much since independence.True,they still exist,but have lose a lot of there power to leech off the poor. Whether or not the Chavez government is the most efficient one in Latin America,or not.It is one of the only one's that at least tries to improve life for the poor. All your wealthy friends had years controlling government after government ,to do something to help the vast majority in Venezuela.But all they showed the common people was the back of their hand.All the while they loaded their bank accounts with the nations oil wealth. Their power is gone,hopefully forever. So all their left to do is try and belittle a man that actually tries to help the poor. He was an army officer,after being elected the first time,if true to form in Venezuela he could have just made himself dictator and joined your friends as a billionaire.Kept their class in power,and said screw the poor.But he didn't.Instead he has given himself to work for the people.And all within a democracy.It may not be the ideal that we would like,and don't even have here.But my Latin American standards,its a very democratic system.
At least there was enough food and supplies when the old weathly were running the country. Now there is shortages and a large black market. They also had better government services under the old rule. The people got anything was Chevaz and his "generals."
Hey Uncle Bob.....
Learn from Huntington 3540: Those "Evil Rich" had Supermarkets filled, the Oil Pumping, and the Economy moving. Chavez has caused MASSIVE BLACKOUTS, MASSIVE shortages of everything from Milk to Baby Formula.
you said "he has given himself to work for the people.And all within a democracy" WOW..... stop reading from the Communist Script. Let my show you in terms we both can understand, Bush:
Imagine if Bush forced all Liberal Justices from the Supreme Court, changed the Constitution, forced 90% of Democratic Senators & Congressmen out, and replaced them with uneducated people from his home town of Texas. Then.... Bush forces the shut down of everything from NBC, to , to CNN News. THEN..... Bush nationalizes Exxon, Bank of America, Coca Cola..... and almost every other Corp.
Is this what you would call a "Democracy?" If it is, the Venezuela is a Democracy.... if not, you just learned something.
ALLERGIC TO STUPID PEOPLE I think the guy clearly stated "I am not a Venezuelan so I have no idea if he is a good president or not." You may know so much more, but that name calling was uncalled for, it kind of made me allergic to you.
If a person speaks Spanish , keeps up with Latin American news from various sources and talks to people from Venezuela and the surrounding region it helps to understand the negative reputation this individual has nurtured. It's not all media hype to assist you in your opinion forming process for the ulterior motives of a few.
He definitely passes muster for inclusion into the stool-sample demographic.
Chavez another dictator, ugly as the rest fanatical & coo-coo. Why is it they are all so ugly Stalin, Hitler, Ahmadinejad who is part Monkey, Attila the Hun, Mussolini with his bugged out eyes, Quackdaffy didn't know how to read, But dressed up in a military uniform wearing war medals he earned fighting along side Alexander & the 300 Spartans & made Mr T look naked. There is something to this. Castor without his beard would of cracked into a million pieces. Tojo, Asian twin brother to Mussolini.
Focus that "beam" on his head...that's where the "cancer" is...
I hope he has picked out the color scheme for his mausoleum.....one foot on a banana peel already...
It was 2007 when Hugo Chavez seized Exxon Oil assets in Venezuela. He simply stole the property of others without compensation and called them his own. When Exxon appealed to international law keepers, Exxon won.
International Chamber of Commerce arbitrators awarded Exxon $908 million for its assets in Venezuela. Playing by the rules and not suffering fools, Exxon appealed to international arbitration for settling its dispute with the dictatorship on its stolen assets. In a dictatorship, the dictator wins. In a world governed by laws between civilized nations, the law abiders win. In this case, that would be Exxon.
Nobody knows what the stolen assets are worth, but the arbiters' award to Exxon of $908 million seemed low. Furthering the unfairness, Venezuela is expected to pay Exxon only $225 million. Nevertheless, Exxon will go on running the rest of its business like a business. And there's a lot of it, putting nary a dent in its revenues of $125 billion per quarter.
If Venezuela wanted to hurt the big international oil company, it didn't. The pain will be borne by Venezuela alone and it has yet to come in a meaningful way. Now operating the seized oil assets is Petroleos de Venezuela, a company wholly owned by the government. It brings in revenues of $90 billion each year, cash flows from which support Chavez's social programs rather than maintaining the business once run by Exxon.
Such unsupported businesses usually flop in time, this one leaving the vast Venezuelan oil reserves right where they are and dwindling revenues for distribution to the people. If Chavez thought that kicking Exxon out would save Venezuelan oil reserves for Venezuela, he had that right. Its vast resource may remain in the ground for the lack of technological know-how to effectively find and efficiently produce it.
This is what happens when a jungle soldier becomes a dictator. This was only 1 of several United States oil companies stolen by Chavez and Venezuela.
There are lots of fraudsters that has infiltrated the Bank instrument business but thank God for Mr. Keith Brian Palmer of KBP Financial Limited who not only promised of issuing me the instrument but also kept to his word after I paid the transmission fee, though reluctantly as I have had my fingers burnt twice last year. Thanks Palmer for bringing smile to my face. now our project in Indonesia is going on smoothly.
Ahmed Hussein
Kuwait
He probably doesn't have more than a year. This is his second round of Surgery, Chemo and Radiation.
He won't be missed. The only problem I see is the vacuum created, and who will seize power, once he dies.
Perhaps we might encourage him to seek treatment in Iran and we could provide the radiation! Two problems solved at once!
Cancer in his "pelvic region". Code for prostate cancer. The macho Latin tin horn dictator can't get it up anymore. Now, he is as impotent in his pants as he is in world politics. What a metaphor!
Yes Hugo, I have your strontium 90 right here. Please keep your exposure time lengthy. I wouldn't want to see this stuff go to waste.
Certainly sounds like metastatic cancer of the prostate gland...he is at an age where that would not be uncommon.
Chavez I wish you a speedy trip to meet your maker.
Hopefully, radiation treatment in Caracas means standing in front of a large radar dish while their air force looks for UFO's on their radar screens.