Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said he won’t change his cabinet or military command as rumors circulate about his health and grip on power after undergoing surgery to remove a cancerous tumor.
Chavez, speaking today in a cabinet meeting broadcast on state television, said that he reaffirmed his support for Vice President Elias Jaua and the rest of the cabinet, and that his government must speed up changes in the country. He also ratified the country’s military command, postponing retirement for some, whose presence at the cabinet meeting was unusual.
“Despite the rumors, I ratify the Vice President Elias Jaua,” Chavez said. “There will be no pact with the bourgeoisie. We’re going to accelerate the pace of economic, military and social transformations.”
Opposition politicians have intensified calls for Chavez to temporarily cede power since he traveled to Cuba a month ago and revealed he has cancer on June 30. Since his unexpected early return to Venezuela on July 4, speculation has mounted among Venezuelans he may reshuffle his cabinet, including changing his vice president and defense minister, to surround himself with trusted officials as his treatment for the unspecified cancer continues.
Vice President Jaua said July 4 that Chavez would organize his cabinet “for the new stage” as he recovers from an operation to remove a cancerous tumor, Agencia Venezolana de Noticias reported.
Cuba Treatment
After returning from treatment in Cuba, Chavez revealed that he was in intensive therapy for four days, and said it was a miracle he was able to return in time for the country’s bicentennial celebrations on July 5.
“We haven’t won the battle, but we have started to beat the evil incubated in my body,” Chavez told a crowd gathered outside the palace that day. “The first stage of complementary treatment already started. There will be a second and third stage.”
According to the constitution, if Chavez is deemed to be in a “temporary absence” of his duties, the vice president will be sworn in during the period.
Chavez, who has been in power since 1999, has said that he’ll seek a third-term in next year’s presidential elections. He changed the constitution in a 2009 referendum to abolish term limits after having extended the terms to six years from five years when he rewrote the carta magna in 2000.
Chavez has forged strong ties with former Cuban leader Fidel Castro who he calls his father. Venezuela, the largest oil producer in South America, sends Cuba about 100,000 barrels of oil a day in exchange for doctors and sports trainers who work for government social programs in Venezuela.
Chavez, who spoke twice today, said he is determined to overcome the cancer. “Never in my life have I had this clear a commitment that I will win this battle and I will do it.”
