Chavez’s condition worsens after surgery

CARACAS

Venezulean President Chavez won another six-year term in October’s election, and is scheduled to be sworn in on Jan. 10. EPA photo

Venezuela plunged into political uncertainty yesterday after the government announced that President Hugo Chavez had suffered a new setback after cancer surgery in Cuba and the situation he was facing was “tough.”

“We have been informed of new complications that arose as a consequence of the respiratory infection we already knew about,” Vice President Nicolas Maduro said Dec. 30 in a TV and radio broadcast from Havana, where Chavez underwent his operation. “President Chavez’s condition is still delicate,” Maduro added, warning that the complications “are being treated in a process that is not without its risks.” Chavez has been in power since 1999 in Venezuela.

Maduro, who said he had spoken with Chavez about his health complications and national affairs, added that the president was facing a “tough situation.” The vice president said he would stay in Havana in the coming hours with Chavez and his family to “closely” follow his progress.