MEXICO CITY, January 2 (RIA Novosti) – Venezuela’s opposition has called on the government to tell the “truth” about the condition of President Hugo Chavez amid growing rumors of his deteriorating health.
Opposition coalition leader Ramon Guillermo Aveledo said at a press conference on Wednesday that the information provided by the government is “insufficient.”
“We demanded truth from the government,” he said.
Venezuelan Vice-President Nicolas Maduro said in an interview with the Latin American satellite TV network Telesur on Wednesday he had visited Chavez in hospital twice in the past two days and the president was conscious and aware of his “complex” condition after a difficult surgery in Havana.
The Venezuelan president’s handpicked successor angrily rejected media speculations that Chavez’s health was failing and he had just several days to live and was unconscious after the operation.
Chavez, 58, who has ruled Venezuela for 13 years, underwent four operations for cancer and four courses of chemotherapy in Cuba and Venezuela within a year. He underwent his fourth surgery to remove cancerous tissue in Cuba on December 11.
He is scheduled to be inaugurated to a new six-year presidential term on January 10, 2013.
Venezuela’s Constitution requires that new presidential elections be held within 30 days, if Chavez is not fit enough to be sworn in. Government officials loyal to Chavez have said, however, the inauguration could take place at a later date.
