Chávez Seeks More Cancer Treatment in Cuba After Election

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is seeking treatment in Cuba to aid his recovery from cancer, seven weeks after winning re-election in a campaign in which he told voters he was “totally free” of the disease.

The self-proclaimed socialist, who cut back public appearances after earning a third six-year term in October, yesterday sought permission from Congress to leave Venezuela and travel to the Communist island for a seventh time this year to undergo hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Chavez, who has undergone three surgeries to remove two tumors since June 2011, arrived in Havana today, Cuban state newspaper Juventud Rebelde reported on its website….

The manner in which Chavez announced his trip will fuel speculation that his health is worse than he’s letting on, said Eric Farnsworth, vice president of the Council of the Americas.

“You’d anticipate that if he really were doing well he’d want to show that publicly,” Farnsworth said in a phone interview from Washington. “It’s difficult to know what’s really going on because this is probably the tightest kept state secret in Venezuela….”

Chavez on Oct. 11 appointed his longtime Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro as vice president in a sign that he’s grooming a successor should his health fail, said Farnsworth.

“If it really weren’t serious he wouldn’t be doing that because he doesn’t want to create potential challengers to the throne,” Farnsworth said. “That’s an implicit admission from Chavez that, without putting a timeline on it, it is pretty serious….”

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