THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: After 14 years in power, the seemingly indefatigable Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has announced a relapse of his cancer and designated vice president Nicolas Maduro as his heir apparent.
In what appeared like a presentation of his final will, the president indicated he would like Maduro to take over the reins of power in a post-Chavez period, urging Venezuelans to vote for him in the next presidential elections.
"You choose Maduro as president of the republic," said Chavez told the nation. "I am asking you this from all my heart."
The 58-year-old leftist firebrand is popular with the long-neglected Venezuelan poor for his oil-funded health and education programs but blamed by his critics for rising crime, corruption and inflation.
A charismatic orator, Chavez was weakened after being diagnosed with cancer last year. The operations and chemotherapy left him bald-headed for a while and he gained weight.
Inspired by Cuba's Fidel Castro, he is a self-sufficient revolutionary, controlling the Western Hemisphere's largest oil reserves and one of the most important foreign sources of crude for the United States.
But Chavez embraced many US enemies over the years, including Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, late Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
He once famously called former president George W Bush "the devil." At first he was warmer toward current President Barack Obama, but Chavez soon returned to type and started portraying the United States again as an evil imperialist power. » | AFP | Sunday, December 09, 2012
