- Title: VENEZUELA: Indigenous groups hold ritual for Chavez's health
- Date: 21st February 2013
- Summary: CARACAS, VENEZUELA (FEBRUARY 21, 2013) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF INDIGENOUS GROUPS DOING HEALING RITUAL FOR VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT HUGO CHAVEZ NOBEL PEACE PRIZE WINNER RIGOBERTA MENCHU GIVING SPEECH (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) NOBEL PEACE PRIZE WINNER RIGOBERTA MENCHU SAYING: "We've worked together to unite our cosmic strength so our comrade regains the vital strength of his being." VARIOUS OF RITUAL (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) NOBEL PEACE PRIZE WINNER RIGOBERTA MENCHU SAYING: "President Chavez represents and symbolizes social fortune, social hope, and hope for living in harmony." VARIOUS OF RITUAL
- Embargoed: 8th March 2013 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of
- City:
- Country: Venezuela
- Topics: Health,Quirky,Politics
- Reuters ID: LVAA3IM7N1H51USXEBDGA4UEMCYF
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- Story Text: Indigenous groups, led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchu, hold ceremony for Venezuela's Chavez
Indigenous groups from throughout Latin America met up in Caracas on Thursday (February 21) to hold a ritual for the health of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who is recovering from his fourth cancer surgery.
Guatemala's Rigoberta Menchu, a Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1992, led the ceremony for the leftist leader.
Around 20 other leaders joined Menchu in support of Chavez, who they see as being a champion of Latin America's largely poor indigenous communities.
"We've worked together to unite our cosmic strength so our comrade regains the vital strength of his being," Menchu said.
The ceremony was part of a larger conference where native leaders discussed issues like land ownership and indigenous rights.
"President Chavez represents and symbolizes social fortune, social hope, and hope for living in harmony," Menchu added.
Chavez recently returned to Venezuela after his latest round of treatment in Cuba, where he has undergone four surgeries and gruelling chemotherapy treatments.
The government has not released details of the type of cancer and is reticent about his current state.
Supporters of the divisive Chavez like to maintain he will return to office while the opposition is calling for a new presidential election after Chavez missed his January 10 inauguration. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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