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01/21/13 - Washington Post - Brother of Chavez says Venezuela leader expected to return home in coming days

He said after an event at the Supreme Court that the decision about when
Chavez returns is up to his medical team, but that he is expected to
return to Venezuela in the "coming days."

The president hasn't been seen or spoken publicly since he left for Cuba
on Dec. 10 for his fourth cancer-related operation.

Argenis Chavez said he recently saw and talked with his brother in Havana,
though he didn't specify when or say how the president looked. He said
that Chavez remained in Cuba accompanied by his children.

Vice President Nicolas Maduro said in a televised interview on Sunday that
Chavez is finishing with a "post-operative" phase of his treatment and
next is to enter a "new phase of treatment," which he said would be
announced.

"He's climbing the hill. He is becoming stabilized in all his values,"
Maduro said, without giving details.

The opposition has demanded more information about Chavez's condition. The
president has been undergoing treatments for cancer since June 2011 but
has declined to specify the type of pelvic cancer he is fighting or the
location of tumors that have been removed.

Chavez's allies in the National Assembly indefinitely postponed the
president's inauguration, which had been scheduled for Jan. 10. The
opposition has argued that was unconstitutional, but the Supreme Court
sided with the government and ruled that the president could take the oath
of office before the court at a later date.

A jailed former defense minister, Raul Baduel, has joined other government
critics in accusing the president's allies of trampling on democratic
norms.

"A falsification of the state has been taking shape," Baduel told the AP
in written responses to a questionnaire over the weekend.

Baduel said that democratic institutions in the country have been degraded
and "everything revolves around the personal ambition of Hugo Chavez to
remain in power in spite of the destruction of the country." He said the
other branches of government are acting in submission to the executive
branch.

Baduel also accused the military's current commanders of taking actions
that "infringe on these constitutional precepts."

"I'm sure that the democratic spirit of the Venezuelan majority will form
a common front to return to the democratic path through the orchestration
of non-violent political defiance," Baduel said.

The former military chief was convicted of embezzlement and abuse of
power, but has insisted he is innocent and dismissed the case against him
as a politically motivated reprisal for his opposition to Chavez.

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Original Source / Fuente Original:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/brother-of-chavez-says-venezuela-leader-expected-to-return-home-from-cuba-in-coming-days/2013/01/21/9facfad8-6406-11e2-889b-f23c246aa446_story.html