http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2013/01/2013126221819574664.html
Venezuela's Chavez 'overcomes infection'
Venezuelan president has overcome a serious respiratory infection
following cancer surgery in Cuba, minister says.
Last Modified: 27 Jan 2013 00:54
Chavez has not been seen in public since he underwent his fourth cancer
operation in December [Reuters]
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has defeated a respiratory infection and
has begun additional medical treatment in Cuba after struggling with
complications following cancer surgery more than six weeks ago, a government
spokesman said.
Venezuelan Information Minister Ernesto Villegas said on Saturday that it
remains unclear how soon Chavez could return home, and did not specify the kind
of treatment he is receiving.
"Vice President (Nicolas) Maduro estimates that the time it could take
President Chavez to return is within weeks. But we haven't wanted to fix an
exact timeframe for the president's recuperation," Villegas told reporters on
the sidelines of a 60-nation summit in Chile.
He read a statement that went beyond past government reports in providing
additional information about Chavez's December 11 surgery, but didn't describe
the newest treatment.
Complex surgery
While refusing to release many details about the president's cancer,
authorities in the past have reported on specific treatments, including
radiation and chemotherapy.
"Forty-five days after carrying out a complex surgical intervention for
the removal of a malignant lesion in the pelvis, with severe, acute
complications, the patient's general evolution is favorable," Villegas said,
reading the statement.
"At this time, the serious respiratory infection has been overcome,
although a certain degree of respiratory deficiency persists and is being duly
treated," Villegas said.
After that improvement, Villegas said, "systemic medical treatment for
the fundamental illness began to be applied as a complement to the surgery".
Villegas also criticised Spain's leading newspaper El Pais, which was
forced to reprint its Thursday edition after discovering that its front-page
exclusive photograph supposedly showing an ailing Chavez being treated in Cuba
was a fake.
The newspaper apologised to its readers for the mistake and said it was
investigating how the photo made its way into the paper.
"But who has apologised to Chavez or his family?" Villegas said.
Chavez hasn't appeared or spoken publicly since before the operation.
'Very optimistic'
Maduro said early on Saturday after meeting with Chavez in Cuba that the
ailing president is now “in the best moment we've seen him in these days of
struggle” following the surgery.
Maduro spoke on state television after returning from Havana to
Venezuela, and before he traveled to Chile for the summit.
"We're taking a message prepared by the president, and we're going to
turn it over to heads of state who attend the CELAC summit. He makes
fundamental proposals," Maduro said, adding that the message was in Chavez's
handwriting.
Maduro said Chavez also sent a message for Venezuelans, including that he
was "very optimistic" about his treatment.
Maduro said Chavez is "hanging on to Christ and to life".
Chavez has undergone repeated surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation
treatment for an unspecified type of pelvic cancer. He has undergone much of
his treatment in Cuba.
The 58-year-old president won re-election in October, and lawmakers
indefinitely put off his inauguration earlier this month in a decision that was
condemned by opponents but upheld by the Supreme Court.
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