The announcement of President Hugo Chavez’s return to Venezuela after a 10-week silence in Cuba is raising questions about his cancer treatments, his delicate health, and the political purposes that motivated his homecoming.
Three messages appeared on Chavez’s Twitter account on Monday saying he was back, and the government announced that he had arrived at 2.30am and was taken to Caracas’ military hospital to continue with his treatments. The government released no images of the president, though, and while his supporters threw street celebrations to welcome him, some also said they wanted to see him to get a better idea of how he is doing.
The government has said Chavez is undergoing “complex and tough” treatments for his illness but hasn’t specified what sort of treatment. The government has said he is breathing through a tube inserted into his windpipe and therefore has difficulty talking, but officials haven’t given a detailed medical report despite demands by the opposition.
Even as Vice-President Nicolas Maduro has increasingly stood in for Chavez since the president’s December 11 surgery, he and other leading officials have insisted that Chavez remains in charge and has been signing off on government decisions.
Chavez’s announced return to Caracas came less than three days after the government released the first photos of the president in more than two months, showing him in a bed looking bloated and smiling alongside his daughters. The lack of any images of Chavez on Monday underlined the many unanswered questions about where he stands in his prolonged struggle with an undisclosed type of pelvic cancer.
Information Minister Ernesto Villegas broke into song on television early Monday, exclaiming: “He’s back, he’s back!”