Chavez smiling, puffy in post-surgery photos

— The world got its first glimpse of Hugo Chavez since he underwent a fourth cancer-related surgery in Cuba more than two months ago, with photos released Friday showing the Venezuelan leader alongside his daughters in Havana.

Along with images of the puffy-faced Chavez came a government explanation for why no one has heard from the longtime president since his surgery: He’s breathing through a tracheal tube that makes speech difficult.

Chavez’s government described his condition as “delicate” and said he continues to undergo “vigorous treatment for his fundamental illness.” The images and new details filled a vacuum of information about Chavez’s condition that has spurred rampant speculation in Venezuela. Government officials say Chavez has been recovering in Cuba since undergoing cancer surgery onDec. 11.

The four photos show Chavez reclining on what appears to be a bed, a blue pillow behind his head. He smiles broadly, while his daughters, Rosa and Maria, lean in close to him.

Three of the images show Chavez looking at Thursday’s issue of the Cuban Communist Party newspaper Granma, his daughters still flanking him. Chavez’s son-in-law, Science and Technology Minister Jorge Arreaza, showed the photos on Venezuelan state television.

Speculation has been widespread in Venezuela about Chavez’s condition, with thepresident not publicly seen or heard from since he left for Cuba on Dec. 10. During previous treatments in Havana, Chavez spoke on Venezuelan TV or appeared in photos.

Information Minister Ernesto Villegas said Friday that the tracheal tube makes talking difficult for Chavez.

“After two months of a complicated postoperative process, the patient remains conscious, with his intellectual functions intact, in close communication with his government team,” Villegas said, reading from a statement on television.

Villegas reiterated that Chavez has overcome a respiratory infection that arose after the surgery, “although a certain grade of [breathing] insufficiency persists.”

“Given that circumstance, which is being duly treated, Comandante Chavez is currently breathing through a tracheal cannula, which temporarily hinders speech,” Villegas said.

Villegas also said Chavez’s doctors are “applying vigorous treatment for his fundamental illness,” an apparent reference to cancer. He said that treatment “isn’t free of complications.”

Government opponents have been demanding more information about Chavez’s condition and have asked why he hasn’t spoken to the nation to explain his condition.

Dr. Carlos Castro, scientific director of the Colombian League Against Cancer in Bogota, said that on the basis of the government’s accounts, Chavez appears to have been breathing with the help of a respirator for an extended period after the surgery.

“After some days, it’s mandatory to perform a tracheotomy so that he can breathe,” Castro said.

Castro, who isn’t involved in the president’s treatment, said Chavez’s tracheotomy isn’t visible in the photos because it apparently is covered by his clothing, below the neckline of his zipped-up track suit. As for why Chavez needed the procedure, Castro said that when a patient is on a respirator for a long time, the “tube can damage the trachea because it, let’s say, irritates. And they carry out the tracheotomy so that he can continue breathing without problems and preserve the trachea.”

Castro also said that it’s normal for a patient’s face to swell up after being on a ventilator for a long time, though he also speculated the puffiness could be due to medications Chavez has been taking. Earlier on in his treatments, Chavez had acknowledged taking steroids, which can lead to swelling.

“They’re not telling us anything about his ‘fundamental illness,’” Castro said. “They don’t touch that subject. So, the question is: What’s happened with the cancer?”

Before leaving for Cuba, Chavez acknowledged there were risks and said that if his cancer fight prevented him from staying on as president, Vice President Nicolas Maduro should run in a new election to take his place.

Maduro has traveled repeatedly to Havana in recent weeks and has shown documents he said were signed by Chavez while insisting the president remains in charge. On Wednesday, Maduro said Chavez is undergoing “extremely complex and tough” treatments, which he didn’t specify.

Arreaza on Friday described them as “palliative treatments” but didn’t give details. He said Chavez has been keeping up his spirits with llanera folk music playing in his room.

Information for this article was contributed by Christopher Toothaker, Fabiola Sanchez, Frank Bajak and Cesar Garcia of The Associated Press.

Front Section, Pages 8 on 02/16/2013

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