(Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is in stable condition and spent Monday with his daughters, the cancer-stricken leader's son in law said in an appeal for supporters to ignore rumours about his condition.

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"Compatriots, DON'T believe in ill-intentioned rumours," Science Minister Jorge Arreaza, who is married to Chavez's daughter Rosa Virginia, wrote on Twitter from Havana where they have been at the former soldier's bedside.

"President Chavez spent the day quietly and stable, together with his daughters."

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/01/01/uk-venezuela-chavez-idUKBRE90000V20130101

It would be so conspicuous, too, if he did, in no time at all.

He'd have nothing to gain from it, even if he were as crooked, and as untrustworthy as a neoliberal a-hole.

Happy New Year to you Judi..

We deserve a great one this time around.

Let's hope that Maduro keeps his trap shut.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-hugo-chavez-setback-20121231,0,1831571.story

CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is confronting "new complications" due to a respiratory infection nearly three weeks after undergoing cancer surgery, his vice president said in Cuba as he visited the ailing leader for the first time since his operation.

Vice President Nicolas Maduro looked weary and spoke with a solemn expression in a televised address from Havana on Sunday. He described Chavez's condition as delicate.

"Several minutes ago we were with President Chavez. We greeted each other and he himself referred to these complications," Maduro said, reading from a prepared statement.

As the Democrats here know, Venezuelans are totally concerned with hearing whatever news can be learned about their beloved President.

He is performing his job in EXACTLY the way ANY country's Vice President would go about it, anyone who cared about doing the right thing, not the right-wing thing.

There is clearly a death watch going on, as Bitchkitty said (as well as others). Perhaps you should take it up with her.

All I did was point out that Maduro was the prime figure in the death watch.

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez is conscious but in a "delicate and complex situation" after a cancer operation in Cuba, his deputy says.

Vice-President Nicolas Maduro said he had seen the president twice in the past two days.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-20886185

Prayers are said across Venezuela for Chavez
01/01 07:15 CET

Prayers are said across Venezuela for Chavez

Prayers are being said across Venezuela for President Hugo Chavez who is battling complications brought on by an operation for cancer.

The 58-year-old is said to be in a stable condition in hospital in Havana.

The procedure in December was the fourth in 18 months.

“I want him to recover and come home soon,” one woman told reporters. “This is bringing us together, there is no opposition, nothing bad. It is like a hymn, everyone joining in the same prayer so that he comes back to complete his mission and continue living like he deserves.”

The main New Year’s Eve party in downtown Caracas was cancelled. Instead the Information Minister hosted a smaller gathering featuring music, speeches and prayers.

http://www.euronews.com/2013/01/01/prayers-are-said-across-venezuela-for-chavez/

Hugo Chavez has spent the day 'peaceful and stable', says Government
By: EFE EFE |7:02 a.m. | January 1, 2013

Hundreds of Venezuelans participated in prayer chains by the president operated in Cuba.

The president of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, has spent the day "peaceful and stable", said on Monday the Minister of Science and Technology, Jorge Arreaza, who is in Havana to accompany the president and his family by the vice president, Nicolas Maduro, and Attorney, Cilia Flores. ( See also: The Chavez fight is against a respiratory infection ) "Fellow citizens, do not believe in malicious rumors. President Chavez has spent the day quiet and stable, accompanied by their children 's" Arreaza wrote in his Twitter @ jaarreaza.

The official, who is also the husband of Rosa, daughter of the president, made ​​the call hours after Masses were held for the health of the president and the Minister of Communication, Ernesto Villegas, ask respect for the president's health. (Lea also: Capriles asks Venezuelans not to fall into 'rumors or hate')

The health status of the president, who remains hospitalized in Havana following surgery that he underwent last December 11, "remains delicate," according to information provided on Sunday Maduro.

From Cuba, the vice president offered a medical report and said the president had been "further complications" postoperative generated by a respiratory infection that came a few days after the surgery that was performed to alleviate cancer recurrence.

More:
http://www.eltiempo.com/mundo/latinoamerica/cancer-de-hugo-chavez_12485781-4

Venezuelans went to the polls for the second time this year on December 16, and delivered another overwhelming victory to President Hugo Chavez’s United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV).

(SNIP)

With 4.8 million votes nationwide, the PSUV won the governorship of 20 of 23 states. The PSUV not only kept every state they already held, they took Tachira, Carabobo, Nueva Esparta and Zulia.

http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/53058


It looks from this as though the party is still strong despite Chavez's health problems. I don't doubt that the right-wingers look forward to Chavez's demise or early retirement with delight, but it may not pan out as they would wish, even without Chavez.

Continuity Likely Even Without Chávez

Mark Weisbrot is the co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. He is also president of Just Foreign Policy.

Updated January 4, 2013, 1:00 PM

Since Hugo Chávez first took office, he and his party have won 13 of 14 national elections, mainly because they greatly improved the living standards of the majority of voters in Venezuela. Since 2004, after the economy recovered from the devastating opposition oil strike, poverty has been cut by half and extreme poverty by more than 70 percent.

And this measures only cash income: millions of people also got access to health care for the first time, and access to education also increased sharply, with college enrollment doubling and free tuition for many. Eligibility for public pensions tripled; and in the past two years the government has built hundreds of thousands of houses. Most of the poverty reduction came from increased employment, not “government handouts,” and during most of Chávez’s tenure the private sector has grown faster than the public sector. These numbers are not really in dispute among economists or international statistical agencies. If you follow Venezuela and haven’t heard any of this, it’s because the news media is giving you the equivalent of a “tea party” view of the country.

Also, the 20 years prior to Chávez were an economic disaster, with per capita income actually falling between 1980 and 1998. So naturally most people have noticed the difference. Is this progress sustainable? The press focuses on Venezuela’s inflation, which, at just under 18 percent is about the highest in the region. However it has come down from 28.2 percent in 2010, even as the economy has recovered and growth has accelerated. This shows that the government can bring inflation down with the right policies. Chávez’s party won in 20 of 23 states during a regional election on Dec. 16, even with Chávez himself absent from the campaign trail. This indicates that his successor will likely win if he should step down.

This should not be surprising. All of the left-leaning governments in South America -- Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, Bolivia and Uruguay -- have been re-elected, some repeatedly, for similar reasons: they have brought real economic and social change and significant improvements in living standards for the majority.

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2013/01/03/venezuela-post-chavez/venezuelans-will-vote-with-their-wallets

Friday, January 4, 2013 by AFP
Venezuela Parliament chief visits Chavez

The head of Venezuela’s National Assembly has flown to Cuba to join the Vice-President and other members of the Government at the bedside of ailing President Hugo Chavez, a local paper reported.

Diosdado Cabello “travelled on Wednesday afternoon to Havana,” the pro-government Ultimas Noticias reported. “It is unknown what agenda brought Cabello to make the visit.”

The Cuban capital has become the hub for decisions about the future of Venezuela’s Government, with the January 10 date for Chavez’s planned inauguration fast approaching.

The Venezuelan Constitution calls for new elections within 30 days if the President-elect is unable to take the oath of office. And, under the Constitution, in this situation, the President of the Parliament becomes interim President.

More:
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130104/world/Venezuela-Parliament-chief-visits-Chavez.451940

Just as I do the king's.