CARACAS — Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez experienced “complications,” including bleeding, during his cancer surgery, but is showing positive signs of recovery, senior aides say. The health of the ailing leader, who has embodied the Latin American left for more than a decade and was re-elected in October, has been the subject of intense speculation since he was first diagnosed with cancer last year. During his latest treatment, 58-year-old Chavez suffered “bleeding that required the adoption of corrective measures,” Communications Minister Ernesto Villegas said Thursday in a television and radio address. It was the first time Venezuelan officials had acknowledged complications in the six hours of surgery that Chavez underwent on Tuesday in Havana. Chavez is undergoing “a progressive and favorable recovery,” Villegas told the nation, warning that this “requires a precautionary time” due to the “complexity of the operation and also because of complications that arose.” Vice President Nicolas Maduro, the former foreign minister to whom Chavez bequeathed the reins of power before flying to Havana, also said that the president's condition was improving. “In the last hours the process of recovery has evolved from stable to favorable,” Maduro said, describing it as one of “progressive recovery.” Chavez aides have warned Venezuelans to be prepared for the worst as the country, already deeply divided over the firebrand leader's populist policies, heads into a period of uncertainty. Diosdado Cabello, a senior leader of Chavez's party, urged the armed forces to stay united and be wary of any attempt to destabilize the country. He said Chavez himself had warned against dissent before flying to Cuba. The latest turn in the 18-month-old saga comes before Chavez was scheduled to be sworn in on January 10 to another six-year term, and three days before regional elections seen as a key test of his political strength. Before departing for Cuba on Sunday, Chavez left Maduro in charge, for the first time naming him as his successor in the event he can no longer govern. — Reuters
