Chavez's return to Cuba for treatment rattles Venezuela

Chavez's return to Cuba for treatment rattles Venezuela
By Andrew Cawthorne and Jeff Franks
CARACAS/HAVANA | Wed Nov 28, 2012 9:51pm EST

(Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was back in Cuba on
Wednesday for cancer-linked medical treatment that revived questions
about the viability of his socialist rule and left Venezuelans again
guessing about his exact condition.

After weeks of scarce public appearances, Chavez, 58, announced in a
letter on Tuesday that he was going to Havana for therapy known as
"hyperbaric oxygenation" - a method used to reduce bone decay caused by
radiation therapy.

In Cuba, Chavez enjoys the friendship of past and present Cuban leaders
Fidel and Raul Castro, plus guaranteed privacy on the tightly controlled
Caribbean island.

Venezuelans, who have been endlessly speculating about Chavez's cancer
since it was diagnosed in mid-2011, were not sure what to make of the
latest twist - debating whether it was normal post-radiation treatment
or a serious downturn.

"I really don't know what he has," Chavez's cousin, Guillermo Frias,
told Reuters from the president's rural hometown state Barinas. "But
anyway, I always pray for him every night. I stop at a shrine on the
corner and always remember him.

"I hope he recovers fine. I'm sure he will. The election campaign was
tough for him. He went too far."

Though he had declared himself cured, Chavez appeared exhausted at the
end of his successful presidential re-election bid in October. He later
admitted radiation had taken its toll.

"INVISIBLE MAN"

The normally garrulous and omnipresent leader has made only a few,
relatively short public appearances, mainly on state TV, at his
presidential palace since his victory on October 7.

One opposition newspaper dubbed him "The Invisible Man".

Unlike multiple past trips to Cuba, during treatment for three
operations on two tumors in his pelvic area, state TV did not show
images of Chavez departing or arriving this time.

Chavez has open-ended authorization from Congress to travel, but aims to
be back at least for the January 10 start of his new term, if not for a
couple of regional summits before.

His absence leaves newly appointed Vice President Nicolas Maduro, 49 - a
former bus driver and union leader - in a prominent position amid
speculation among Venezuelans over who could replace Chavez should he
leave power.

Congress head Diosdado Cabello, a former military comrade of Chavez, is
also often touted as a possible successor to lead the ruling Socialist
Party. Under the constitution, an election would have to be held if
Chavez were to leave office within the first four years of his new
six-year term.

Chavez's return to Cuba overshadowed the buildup to state elections in
Venezuela on December 16, where the opposition aims to overcome
disappointment at their failure to win the presidency.

A prolonged absence by Chavez could potentially postpone major policy
decisions, such as a widely expected devaluation of the bolivar currency
after heavy pre-election state spending.

BONDS RISE

The hyperbaric oxygenation therapy, or HBOT, he is due to receive
involves breathing pure oxygen in a pressurized chamber.

In addition to the bone-weakening side effects of radiation on cancer
sufferers, experts say HBOT is used to treat conditions including
infections, abscesses and decompression sickness - or the "bends" - that
can afflict deep sea divers.

Nelson Bocaranda, a prominent pro-opposition journalist, said Chavez had
been suffering intense pain in his bones and waist area of late, forcing
him to rest and take painkillers.

In his widely read "Rumors" column on Wednesday, Bocaranda published a
supposed medical report from Havana's Cimeq hospital, with a relatively
uninflammatory diagnosis.

"It is a matter of giving him therapy for pain and stabilization so he
has a better quality of life," said the report, which could not be
confirmed.

"His physical state is normal; loss of weight reasonable; high tension
constant; abdominal nausea and pains; good emotional state but with
variable depression; tolerable pain thresholds and reaction to treatment
applied. He's rested in recent days and had little pressure from
government functions."

Information Minister Ernesto Villegas said the president was receiving
"complimentary therapy" and that no one should worry.

"There are many people who live as if in a soap opera, where no one goes
to the bathroom, no one gets flu," he told state TV. "Chavez is a human
being and he also gets sick."

Opposition leader Henrique Capriles, who ran against Chavez in the
presidential poll, sent him best wishes for a "long life" but also urged
greater transparency.

"Nobody wants to play the rumor game," he told reporters. "Venezuelans
should be told with total transparency what the situation is, what's the
extent of this treatment. That's the way it should be in Venezuela and
how it is in other countries."

Given investor hopes for a more market-friendly government, Venezuela's
widely traded bonds rose for a second day.

The benchmark Global 27 bond and state oil company PDVSA's closely
watched 2022 bond were both at year-high prices of $93.44 and $111.75
respectively.

"If we reference the past price action to treatments in Cuba, there was
a pattern of buying on his departure to Cuba and selling on his return
to Venezuela," Siobhan Morden, managing director at Jefferies & Co.,
said in a research note.

On Venezuela's streets, there was both solidarity and skepticism
concerning Chavez's situation.

"That man doesn't have anything. He was never sick," said motorbike taxi
driver Omar Rivas, 55, surmising that the health saga was a ploy by the
president to win public sympathy.

Teacher Ana Maria Garcia, 26, had a kinder reading: "I don't understand
what he has, but I hope he recovers quickly. He's a winner."

(Additional reporting by Mario Naranjo, Eyanir Chinea and Diego Ore;
Editing by Bill Trott)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/29/us-venezuela-chavez-cuba-idUSBRE8AS04520121129