AFP, EL NACIONAL, EL UNIVERSAL (Venezuela)
CARACAS– Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez continues to suffer from chronic respiratory difficulties since his return to the country from Cuba earlier this week.
The news came in a televised statement from Venezuelan Minister for Communications Ernesto Villegas, which was the first information from the government on Chavez’s health since he returned from cancer treatment in Cuba on Monday.
“The president continues to hold close to Christ with a great will to live and the greatest discipline in the treatment of his health,” Villegas said in the Thursday statement.
Villegas noted that Chavez has a tracheal cannula, which temporarily prevents him from speaking, but is awake and alert, reports the AFP.
According to Villegas, the post-operative respiratory problems have been persisting as cancer treatment continues, but otherwise there are no significant adverse effects, writes El Universal.
Villegas thanked the support that has come from the Venezuelan people and criticized the “disrespectful gestures” that had come from the political opposition, writes El Nacional.
Chavez, 58, returned to Venezuela after a two-month stint in Cuba to treat a recurrence of cancer. The first photos of him after his surgery were released one week ago and he announced his surprise return to the country on Monday via his twitter account.
