Ever since his re-election on October 7th, Hugo Ch?vez has been uncharacteristically absent from the public eye. As if anyone had been in any doubt, we now know why.
Although he claimed to be cured from cancer in July, a letter from Ch?vez was read out in congress on Tuesday in which he said that he had been following a ?complementary treatment plan? ordered by his doctors and is now on his way to Cuba for further ?special? treatment.
Lately, Ch?vez watchers have been playing a Venezuelan version of ?Where?s Wally?, after weeks of slow news with headlines dominated by the baseball mad country?s players? achievements in the US major leagues or the shenanigans of beauty queens allegedly mixed up in Venezuela?s criminal underworld.
But with news that Ch?vez is off to Cuba again, after multiple trips over the past year for chemotherapy and radiotherapy, speculation is bound to intensify that the socialist leader is not completely cured from cancer as he has claimed.
He had sometimes appeared bloated and tired in public appearances ahead of last month?s elections, in a campaign that was markedly less energetic than his previous campaign for presidential elections in 2006.
Now, pundits who had claimed that Ch?vez was at death?s door just a few months ago are likely to smugly say they were right all along, while theories about succession plans will surely proliferate once more.
Markets reacted strongly on the news, with yields on Venezuela?s benchmark 2027 dollar bonds down 3.6 per cent to 10.058 per cent by 3.50pm in New York. As analysts at Citigroup put it in a note this afternoon:
Although [Ch?vez?s] true condition is uncertain, we recognize that news regarding the evolution of his health status will continue to be an important driver of this credit going forward.
After a quiet few weeks in Venezuela, it looks like things might start livening up again.
Related reading:
Ch?vez returns to Cuba for treatment, FT
Lula to Chavez: time to start preparing for succession, beyondbrics
Barclays: regime change in Venezuela is coming sooner than you think, beyondbrics
Chavez: back to form?, beyondbrics
Ch?vez: I am not dead, beyondbrics
Source: http://blogs.ft.com/beyond-brics/2012/11/27/chavez-not-cancer-free-afterall/
stock market Google News Obama Acceptance Speech 2012 alabama football dow jones Bbc News Selena Gomez
কোন মন্তব্য নেই:
একটি মন্তব্য পোস্ট করুন