Many Venezuelans believe in Chavez recovery

A supporter of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez holds a photo of him, alongside Cuba's Raul Castro, right, and Fidel Castro, during a event to commemorate the violent street protests of 1989 known as the "Caracazo," in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013. The wave of 1989 violent protests, seen by the current government as a "popular uprising," was in response to the economic measures imposed by then President Carlos Andres Perez. / AP Photo/Fernando Llano

CARACAS, Venezuela Venezuela's vice president said Thursday that Hugo Chavez is still fighting for his life, yet a recent poll says three in five Venezuelans believe their president will return to power.

Nicolas Maduro, Chavez's self-appointed successor, said on television that his boss "is battling there for his health, for his life, and we're accompanying him."

The vice president had characterized Chavez's condition similarly on Dec. 20, saying the president "is fighting a great battle ... for his life, for his health."

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Chavez hasn't spoken or been seen since before his fourth operation in Cuba on Dec. 11 for an unspecified cancer in the pelvic area.

The government says he has been breathing with the help of a tracheal tube after surviving a serious respiratory infection. It says Chavez returned on Feb. 18 and is at a military hospital in Caracas for continued treatment for "respiratory insufficiency."

Despite speculation by doctors not involved in Chavez's treatment that it is most likely palliative, designed only to make him more comfortable in his remaining days, many Venezuelans apparently believe — or want to believe — he is on the mend.

"The president's prolonged absence and his critical situation have not been converted into massive pessimism about his return," respected pollster Luis Vicente Leon tweeted Thursday.

He said nearly 58 percent of Venezuelans believe Chavez will recover while about 30 percent believe he will not return to power and 12.5 percent say they don't know what will happen. One percent, meanwhile, believe Chavez was never sick.

Leon, chief of the Datanalisis polling firm, told The Associated Press that the Feb. 11 poll of 1,198 people had an error margin of three percentage points.

He said he thought the poll reflected people's desire not to believe the worst about someone who is dear to them, just as people resist accepting that a close relative might be dying.

Leon also said he thought reports of government officials holding hours-long meetings with Chavez had contributed to the belief of many Venezuelans that Chavez will return.

"The government has sent permanent messages that President Chavez will return, that he meets with the vice president for five hours," Leon noted.

He said people don't necessarily believe that, however, as the poll found 44 percent think the government has not been transparent in discussing the Chavez's health.

In his televised remarks, Maduro called for Venezuelans to keep praying for Chavez and remain loyal to the committed socialist who has been their president for more than 19 years.

"Do you know why Comandante Chavez neglected his health and has been battling (cancer) for nearly two years?" he said. "Because he completely surrendered body and soul and forgot all his obligations to himself in order to give himself to the homeland."

Chavez, 58, himself has previously acknowledged that he was neglecting his health in recent years, often staying up late and consuming cup after cup of coffee to remain alert.

The president has undergone surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation treatments since June 2011, when he first announced his cancer diagnosis. He hasn't specified the type of cancer or the exact location in his pelvic region where his tumors have been removed.

On Feb. 15, the government released four photographs of Chavez lying in a bed in Cuba with his two daughters by his side. They were the only images of him published since early December.

Re-elected in October, Chavez was scheduled to have been sworn in on Jan. 10. But the Supreme Court said the swearing-in could be delayed.

[HawaiianNeal]

Was the government prior to Chavez any better? No. That said, this is the two bad governments don't make a good government. While the poor receive "free stuff" now, they do so by mortgaging their children's and grand children's' future and their grandchildren will curse their grandparents for doing so. Oil futures are now out to 2031. This is SLOWLY becoming clear to the college students there and it will be their job to help those that do not understand basic economics that devaluations of a country's currency is a red flag for fiscal mismanagement. At some point, the "fiddler" will call in his due. I have walked the mountainside barrios of Caracas and have seen them grow, not shrink, over the last 12 years. I have seen the high voltage wires running across the ground there from makeshift connections on street light poles to "homes" (third world construction and below). I have seen neighborhoods develop in unfinished commercial superstructures where "mob law" exists for the residents. I have seen the populous armed with military style weaponry while the Chaves government limits the Police dept to hand guns. I have seen the acts of good policemen overshadowed by the acts of a few corrupt policemen. I went to the zoo in Caracas a few months back and saw the state of disarray it was in with the 3 meter grass growing in the fields around the park where we used to play when we were kids. I have even been to Cuba, which is now (partly due to our shipping millions of barrels of lower than cost oil to them) starting to pass Venezuela in "quality of life of the poor and its almost 0 crime". Our question for our generation is, "Do we suck it up and become fiscally responsible? or Do we just allow Venezuela to slip further and further into the depths of third worldness and total collapse? It won't be easy to dig ourselves out but the only positive of this is that if we start to dig now, there will be a LOT less pain that starting to dig later.

[HawaiianNeal]

As far as NOTHEOCRACY, he/she is pretty 'spot on' with the figures. What he/she neglects to address is the "why" about the total lack of diversification in the export arena. We knew for years that all our eggs were in one basket. We, the educated, also know that is a REALLY bad idea. In 14 years we have not done anything to address that. That alone should be priority 1. Like they say on airplanes, "put your mask on first before helping others." Venezuela's government cannot continue to spend like drunken sailors with a credit card and expect to pay the bills. 14 years of not addressing this is killing us.

[Beaner96]

Chavez has been a major disaster as president of Venezuela. His people are starving and living in poverty!

[nosnobs]

These people are as DUMB as the ones who voted for Obama. Sad.

[Beaner96]

Fully agree, NOSNOBS! Chavez is a pig dictator.

[raymailhot]

When your president is also your god, these things will happen! At any other time, it would seem funny in America.

[Beaner96]

This article has nothing to do with Mormons.

[AttyFAM]

Shades of Evita.