Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Suffers From 'severe' Lung Infection

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez suffers from 'severe' lung infection < br />

2013-01-05 11:42:31 GMT+7 (ICT)

CARACAS, VENEZUELA (BNO NEWS) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is suffering from a 'severe' respiratory infection, government officials confirmed on Friday.

Venezuela's Communication and Information Minister, Ernesto Villegas, spoke from the Miraflores Palace in Caracas, the country's capital, regarding the health condition of current President Chavez who underwent surgery last December.

"Following the serious surgery carried out last December 11, Commandant Chavez has faced complications as a result of a severe pulmonary infection," Villegas stated, adding that the infection has caused a respiratory insufficiency.

In addition, Villegas said the Venezuelan government is warning the country's people regarding the "psychological war that the transnational media's framework has unleashed" around Chavez's health condition, which, the minister continued, is trying to "make the country unstable, misinform the people's will expressed in the last October 7 presidential elections, and end the revolution inherited to Chavez."

In his statement, Villegas also said that while, Chavez's health condition requires him to strictly fulfill medical instructions, the Venezuelan government has reiterated its 'confidence' in the medical staff that has been treating Chavez.

Meanwhile, Venezuela's Science and Technology Minister, Jorge Arreaza, who is also Chavez's son-in-law, traveled to Havana, Cuba, where the president is receiving medical treatment. Through his Twitter account, Arreaza previously said that Chavaez "continues to fight hard and send all his love to our people."

Constant rumors began circulating around Chavez's health condition since June 2011, when the Venezuelan president first stated recovering from an operation that removed an abscessed tumor with cancerous cells. He later declared in July 2012, that he had fully recovered from cancer, only three months before the country held presidential elections, which Chavez ultimately won on October 7, 2012.

Chavez, 58, who first assumed office in 1999, is set to carry out his fourth presidential term, which is scheduled to begin on January 10 and end in 2019.

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