VENEZUELA: Wishes for good health pour in for Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on his birthday as the leader continues his battle with cancer

Record ID: 862943

  • Title: VENEZUELA: Wishes for good health pour in for Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on his birthday as the leader continues his battle with cancer
  • Date: 29th July 2011
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) CARACAS RESIDENT, ELBA CORONADO, SAYING: "I wish him good health and that he looks after himself because he is the heart of the people and part of our world. We need him well and with a lot of energy to keep working because in 2012 we want him strong so we can follow him."
  • Embargoed: 13th August 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of
  • City:
  • Country: Venezuela
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVABF0PVXAQSLCLO2QBNR1B497HO
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  • Story Text: On Thursday (July 28), dozens of Venezuelans sent President Hugo Chavez well-wishes for his birthday as the firebrand leader continues cancer treatment.
    Chavez has been looking stronger after his first round of chemotherapy in Cuba.
    During a phone call broadcast on state television in Venezuela, Chavez said he felt "reborn," saying "I'm like the phoenix, I've returned to life."
    On a mural put up in Bolivar Plaza in the capital Caracas, Venezuelans signed messages of hope for Chavez, bidding him a swift recovery.
    "Tell him that we love him so much. We adore him and will adore him for the rest of our lives and forever," Caracas resident, Ligia Perez, said.
    Chavez has said his illness had made him even more determined to be a candidate in next year's presidential elections and that he had not thought of giving up the presidency "for even an instant."
    A former soldier whose greatest victory was the collapse of a 2002 military rebellion after massive popular protests demanded his return, Chavez has used the 10 years since to nationalize much of the economy of the major U.S. oil supplier.
    He is wildly popular, especially among his poor supporters.
    "I wish him good health and that he looks after himself because he is the heart of the people and part of our world. We need him well and with a lot of energy to keep working because in 2012 we want him strong so we can follow him," said another Caracas resident, Elba Coronado.
    Chavez warned Tuesday he expects his next round of chemotherapy will cause hair loss but it seems that has not dimmed the smiles of his buoyant fans.
    Even so, the leader who rose from humble rural roots and built a political career on his charisma, said he was largely confined to the Miraflores palace because of the risk of a health setback, citing low immune defenses as a result of the chemotherapy.
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