A report by Dan Rather fires up the Caracas rumor mill

The news hit Venezuela's gossip-sphere with a thud: According to "a highly respected source close to Chávez who is in a position to know his medical condition and history," Hugo Chávez's cancer has now "entered the end stage." Since it comes from an American news legend, Dan Rather, the report that Chávez is not expected to live more than two months got people talking.

Within minutes, contracts on Chávez no longer remaining in office by the end of 2012 doubled in price on Intrade, the online prediction market. And the persistent rumbles from those who aspire to become his successor ticked up a notch.

At this late stage of the game, with Chávez mostly avoiding public appearances and rarely shown on state TV anymore, the question of his succession remains wide open. The current vice-president, left-wing extremist Elías Jaua, is widely seen as something of a lightweight, and Chávez himself announced some months ago that he would be replaced. But Rather's report leaves open the unsettling possibility that the big guy could leave the scene without leaving a clear successor in place.

Already, a few days earlier, posters had gone up around a key Caracas thoroughfare proclaiming "Diosdado Presidente!" Adorned with a large photo of chavista National Assembly Chairman Diosdado Cabello, they looked like a dirty trick played by one of Cabello's rivals to make him appear rather too eager for the job. (Cabello immediately distanced himself from the posters.) Whether the posters came from inside or outside the Chávez movement, no one can tell at this point.

More: http://transitions.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/06/04/a_report_by_dan_rather_fires_up_the_caracas_rumor_mill