The usually all-over-the-place Venezuelan president has been silent for two weeks in Cuba. What is going on?
Rumors of all shapes, sizes and flavors are brewing in Venezuela as a result of the long recovery process of a simple surgery, and the puzzling silence of the president since June 10, when he went into a Cuban medical facility to treat a pelvic abscess.
Since then, there has been no news of the man who was news everyday. No interviews, no twitter activity, none of his characteristic tirades, rants and litanies, nothing.
All particularly strange in such an eventful news week in Venezuela: massive blackouts and an electricity crisis is underway, WikiLeaks revealed that the Venezuelan clergy disobeyed orders to not plot against Chávez, Venezuela’s overnight bank lending rate fell to its lowest figure since 2008 and 25 prisoners died in a massive prison riot, headlines that traditionally would elicit a TV appearance by the Venezuelan President, have failed to even provoke a comment.
Fishy, isn’t it?
So far, authorities have not tried to bring up the constitutional passage that would dictate that Vice-president Jaua should take over because of presidential absence. They expect Chávez to be back in 10 to 12 days, as announced on state television by Aden Chávez, the President’s brother.
