“Venezuelanalysis“: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has expressed his “suspicions” over the number of left wing Latin American presidents who have acquired cancer recently.
“It’s difficult to explain, at this point, what is happening to some of us in Latin America,” Chavez said. “It’s strange that [Paraguayan president Fernando] Lugo, [Brazilian president] Dilma [Rousseff], and then myself, and a few days later [ex Brazilian president Luiz Inacio] Lula [Da Silva] and now Cristina [Fernandez] have contracted cancer”.
“Would it be strange if the U.S had developed the technology to induce cancer? I don’t know, I leave it to be reflected on,” he added.
“I don’t want to make any reckless accusations, but just a while ago I heard president Alvaro Colom [of Guatemala] telling the United States that it should accept its responsibility and seek forgiveness from the Guatemalan people, because it was shown, fifty years later, that they ran a biological and chemical operation, venereal diseases included, in the country, for scientific tests,” Chavez added.
On 4 January Fernandez will be operated on for thyroid cancer. According to Alfredo Scoccimarrio, Argentine secretary of communication, there is no metastasis. Abiding by constitutional regulations, the vice president, Amado Boudou, will take over Fernandez’s responsibilities while she is in hospital.
Lugo was diagnosed with treatable lymphatic cancer in August last year, Rouseff underwent cancer treatment in 2009, also for lymphoma, In October this year Lula’s larynx cancer was detected, and Chavez was diagnosed with cancer in June this year. He has since announced his “full recovery”.
The Venezuelan foreign affairs ministry released a statement yesterday saying Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez had called Fernandez, worried, and to express his solidarity. Fernandez said he was the first president to call her.
According to the statement, during the conversation Fernandez said she would like to be included in the “Summit of Presidents who have overcome cancer” and they talked about asking Lula to coordinate the event. Lula proposed the conference on 3 November this year.
The statement said the conversation concluded with Chavez wishing Fernandez “good health” and saying “We’ll live and we’ll overcome”, a slogan Chavez has been using instead of ‘socialism, homeland, or death’ since he himself fought cancer.
By Tamara Pearson – VenezuelaAnalysis
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