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Raul Arboleda / AFP - Getty Images
Two men paint a mural portraying Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez with the slogan "We shall overcome" on the streets of Caracas on Jan. 8, 2013. A constitutional fight over cancer-stricken President Hugo Chavez's status intensified Tuesday with the government planning a massive show of support in the streets on the day he is supposed to be sworn in to a new term.
Ailing Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez will not be able to attend the presidential swearing-in ceremony Thursday in Caracas, government sources said Tuesday.
In a statement read by National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello, Vice President Nicolás Maduro said Chavez's medical team in Cuba indicated the president's post-surgery recovery time needs to be extended.
Venezuela tensions brew as Chavez remains ill, absent
Venezuela's opposition is accusing the government of violating the constitution by proposing to delay Chavez's inauguration for a new term.
The socialist leader's allies say the Jan. 10 inauguration date laid out in the constitution is just a "formality." They say Chavez, who has not been heard from for almost a month after complex cancer surgery in Cuba, can take office when his health allows.
The dispute centers on an article of the constitution that says a president-elect should be sworn in on Jan. 10 but does not say what happens if the inauguration does not take place that date.
The official position is that Chavez is fulfilling his duties as head of state despite a severe respiratory infection that has at times left him struggling to breathe. He has not been seen in public or in a live broadcast since his surgery.
The government, which has refused to discuss having Chavez temporarily step aside as he recovers, is providing only terse statements with bare-bones details of his condition.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
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Leave a Comment:
two words: ECHO CHAMBER
because he is on life support and when they can keep the vice president in power they will pull the plug !
This is still more transparent than DC.
I just hope the peice of @!$%# dies!
Every country deserve the president they elect, Venezuela chose Castro they have to live with that.At least Castro is proud of his country.
Castro is from Cuba moron!
Chavez won't die until the next dictator eliminates his opposition.
Look for certain members of the opposition party to "disappear" over the next several months.
No insults cowboy , Castro, Chavez they all are the same, different name.
The A..hole doesn't have much time left, I would be surprised if he is even coherent at this point. I would think he is very heavily medicated with pain meds and unable to even speak.
Chavez D-E-A-D !!! ... who are they kidding ?!!!
Venezuela is the most politically corrupt and rigged country in Latin America. The Chavistas will fudge all sorts of 'legal' rationales to maintain power - including swearing in a corpse if they have to. ... Chavez has already long gone to meet his friend Gaddafi in Hell - and hopefully soon to be joined by his other friends Assad of Syria and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran.
"Venezuela's ailing Chavez unable to attend swearing-in"
Truly a pity, that.
By all means, allow me to help out with the swearing in:
"You fargin sneaky bastage! I'm a hope someone take your dwork an' nail it to the wall. I wish someone gonna crush your boils in a meat grinder, cut off your arms. and shove 'em up your icehole. Dirty son-a-ma-batch for how you lie to your own country!
"You lousy cork-soaker, you have violated their farging rights. Dis somanumbatching country was founded so that the liberties of common patriotic citizens like them could not be taken away by a bunch of fargin iceholes... like you!"
(With apologies and acknowledgement to Roman Troy Moronie [from "Johnny Dangerously"]).
What the Cuban doctors are not telling us is that Chavez is still intubated from the surgery as a precaution against the severe lung infection he contracted. He is unable to eat and is being fed intravenously. He remains in intensive care, unable to walk or breathe on his own, so he is likely to die in Cuba and never return to Venezuela to be sworn in. His backers are merely deluding themselves that he will return to resume his presidency. Of course, if Hugo dies, they can swear him in posthumously so he can continue to rule the country from his grave.
Thats funny!
Not really.
Surprise ! Surprise! The Big Brother Stalinist dictator won´t be able to attend! Why don´t they freeze him like they did Disney or mummify him like an Egyptian pharoah.Then they can worship this demon forever! This is the equivalent of a military takeover by the Stalinst leaders of the communist parties in Cuba and Venezuela! Disgraceful and shameless!
Time to take your trip with the Grim Reaper old fat man. Your responsible for thousands of deaths to innocent people and responsible for stripping those people of their farms, homes and property. If their relatives complained, you killed them as well. Cancer owns your body and Satan owns your soul. Only darkness at the end of your tunnel!
adiós grasas gilipollas
the Chief
Chavez in not old. Other than that I agree with everything!!
the-chief says- Time to take your trip with the Grim Reaper old fat man. Your responsible for thousands of deaths to innocent people and responsible for stripping those people of their farms, homes and property. If their relatives complained, you killed them as well. Cancer owns your body and Satan owns your soul. Only darkness at the end of your tunnel!
Its easy to make statements like that. But I'd like to see proof of any of that. We may have problems with Chavez,but I've never seen anything about "thousands of deaths to innocent people".That is just BS meant to fool people that know nothing about Venezuela,and want to believe anything anti-Chavez.
Deal whit Satan and Chavez ? Imposible ! The Hell all ready they sell stoks ro Bushs, Chenney, Rumselfd and other brights kids fron USA before them, Chavez need go somewere beside that, how know...
O.K. baca bits... one more time
adiós grasas gilipollas!!
Let me try this in your style.
Chavez dumb kid from getto slum boy,he going to heel fron, you know, low place fron venzuala someplate but cancer eat hiz no brain....how know he go somewere? cuz he go bye bye! not imposible!
he dead maybe already.
One more time fir ya
adiós grasas gilipollas
"oskar-1391552
Every country deserve the president they elect, Venezuela chose Castro they have to live with that.At least Castro is proud of his country."
You and Baco bits must have attended the same school in Latin America. I take one look at your post picture and can see the intelligence just pouring out of your boca marrón.
God Bless Chavez! We love U
I love Chavez.
Especially when he tells the US and its imperialist policies to F*** off!
I sure hope you don't live in or are a citizen of our "imperialist" country -- the greatest country in the world! I'll take this "imperialist" country over any other country any day. Proud to be an American! Don't like it, get the $@#g out (and don't let the door slam you in the a$$ on the way out).
Swing low sweet cahariot. Better yet let's call it in his own lingo.
Carrode dulce baja oscilacion Bye Bye you TYRANT.
Maybe we can lend Venzuela ours until he is better as a neighborly gesture
one down, few more to go.
I'm sure odumbo will donate something from the USA in honor of this man's commie/tyranical status in memory at the funeral.
Well if he ain't going, I'm not going...
Jesse Jackson Jr., can coach him on how to hold political office and not show up.
President Hugo Chavez is still dead.
The latest- legal opinion- Chavez' Inauguration can be postponed for up to 180 days,consisting of two- 90 day periods -has 'Constitutional Cover' if Chavez fails to show in Venezuelan capital city of Caracas on Thursday (2013-01-10). Also of note- Argentine President Christina Fernandez will be visiting Chavez on Friday (2013-01-11). Simultaneously on Thursday in Havana,Cuba and Caracas,Venezuela solidarity group Intellectuals of the World in Solidarity with Chavez holding open meetings reading well wishes.
"Intellectuals of the World in Solidarity with Chavez". Sounds really, really, intellectual, all right. If you have to proclaim yourself an "intellectual", are you really one? Isn't that a lot like proclaming yourself to be a "fair and balanced" journalist?
That is what Cuban news report http://www.granma.cu/ingles/ - also Obama adm. sent him Well Wishes for quick recovery (focus.de)
Thanks to Chavez many sudamerican countries have now good economiesm, tehy are in GOOD SHAPE check, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Brasil, etc. meanwhile our smart guyS put us in RECESION !
Rlquall, interesting "F & B" comment. Kind of like saying you lean forward, you know you lean, it's just a matter of perspective of which way you are looking.
Hugo is getting off easy after turning against Israel and siding with their Enemies. Adios hugo and Good Riddance to All Like-Minded Commie Trash! "In that Day I, YAHWEH Will Seek To Destroy Every Nation/leader that Comes Against Jerusalem." Zechariah 12:9 Watch Them Fall One-By-One! Glory Be To YAHWEH!
As we speak, Hugo Chavez is having a dinner of "red hots" with his mentors Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il.
I hear his buddies Joseph Stalin, Sadam Hussein, Pol Pot, and Muammar Al-Qaadafi will be in attendance.
What ? Hadam Hussein, Osama Bin Laden are our boys working for the CIA for years ! and Gadafi I see pictures of him checking hands whit british and french friends and them are our friend, or no ?
I thought the article was about Chavez's inability to attend Obama's swearing in. They are great friends, you know.
My first thoughts also. Too bad chavez can't make it. I know odumbo was really expecting him to be there, especially after he gave him all that money to drill for oil with.
I heard he caught AIDS from Sean Penn.
That great social medicine in Cuba must not be working so well. Should have got the Kennedy's to get him in Johns Hopkins...couple tankers of fuel oil for the North East should have covered his copay!
Larry Thacker yeah, because people never die of cancer or any other illness and never get infections after surgery here in the US.
He's dead!
You're right! Obama and he are the best of pals!
Complex cancer surgery in Cuba, there's an oxymoron. Similar chance of survival to complex cancer surgery in the U.S. circa 1900. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.
Give him a break! He's at the taxidermist!
So they elected a dead man....I wish we did.
for those of you wishing his death, you are no better then you say he is. all of you need too just mind your own p's&q's and worry about your own country and your own people. it seems the people there like him or he wouldn't have been around so long running his country. the people in the U.S.A. really need too worry about their s#@*hole country as the united states is dooomed!!!!!
I would say "Bring it on" but I have learned to cut third world countries some slack after having to have save their a---- a few times. The only part of our country that is a s--- h--- is that part the illegal immigrants have managed to infest. That is actually a lot less than you think.
so get somebody else. if he can't do it. nuber two gets it. maybe he never will be able then what
Does this mean his cancer won't be attending either?
Diosdado Cabello means God Given hair.......
Nicolas's last name, Maduro means ripe, as in plantain, member of the banana family..........
These guys are running the country while Chavez takes a breaky and compares scars with Fidel...........