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01/29/13 - Reuters - Venezuelan vice president says Chavez is "very optimistic" of recovery


CARACAS (Reuters) - Hugo Chavez is upbeat about recovering from cancer and confident
in his medical team, his No.  2 said on Tuesday in the latest message from the
Venezuelan leader's sickbed in Cuba.

"He told us with great strength: 'I am very optimistic, I trust completely in the
treatments I am undergoing, I will beat this again.  I'm holding onto Christ and
life,'" Vice President Nicolas Maduro said of Chavez's words to him on a recent
visit.

In power for the past 14 years, the South American OPEC member's socialist leader has
not been seen or heard from in public since December 11 surgery in Havana.  That was
his fourth for a cancer first detected in the pelvic area in June 2011.

Opposition leaders say if Chavez, 58, is well enough to talk to ministers, then he
should address the nation and tell Venezuelans exactly what condition he is in.

Despite complications including a lung infection after the operation, officials have
been more optimistic about Chavez's state in the past two weeks, suggesting he was
over the worst of the surgery repercussions and may come home soon.

They acknowledge, however, that Chavez's health remains delicate, and many
Venezuelans believe his active rule is probably over, with a homecoming possibly
aimed at smoothing a transition of power.

Maduro, 50, is Chavez's preferred political heir.

"Our commander-president is in a tough and complex battle, but with a phenomenal
spirit," Maduro said in a speech in Sabaneta, the rural village where Chavez was
born.

Maduro visited Chavez in Cuba before a weekend summit in Chile.

The vice president accused opposition supporters of stirring up trouble during
Chavez's absence, delighting in his health problems and even plotting against senior
government officials.

Even within "Chavista" circles, Maduro said, there are some murmurings of dissent
that needed to be quashed.

"Though they are few, they are sometimes going around stirring up the waters to make
themselves leaders or bosses of the revolution," he said.  "We will give names in due
course if necessary.  ... We urge the people to put them in their place.  They need
to be clear who the leader and boss is."

(Reporting by Andrew Cawthorne, Diego Ore and Deisy Buitrago; Editing by Will Dunham)

Original Source / Fuente Original:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/29/us-venezuela-chavez-idUSBRE90S0WA20130129