Argentine president Cristina Fernandez in her recent visit to Cuba declined to see the ailing Hugo Chavez but surprised her hosts, the Castro brothers, when she revealed having received two letters from the Venezuelan leader which she considered to be his political testament.
United States and other Latinamerican countries wish the situation in Venezuela ‘clears up’, said Roberta S. Jacobson Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, currently in Spain as part of a visit that also includes the UK and Belgium.
Venezuela’s ruling party said on Monday that the ‘high command’ is receiving instructions from President Hugo Chavez in Havana while its grass roots leaders are organizing a massive rally next week which happens to coincide with a similar march on the same day but to protest and organized by the opposition.
According to a report from Reuters, Brazil is urging Venezuela's government to hold elections as quickly as possible if President Hugo Chavez dies, which in that case would help a smoother leadership transition in Caracas.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's lung infection has been controlled and his medical state is improving, the government announced on Sunday while four of the most powerful figures gathered in Havana allegedly to report to the cancer-stricken leader and meet with Cuban allies.
Argentine president Cristina Fernandez is flying Saturday to Emirates the first leg of a trade tour that includes the Far East after spending 24 hours in Cuba where she met the Castro brothers, visited the relatives of cancer-stricken President Hugo Chavez and late Friday held a mini summit with Venezuelan Vice president Nicolas Maduro and Peruvian head of state Ollanta Humala.
Organization of American States Secretary General José Miguel Insulza, said in statements to the press that the hemispheric body “fully respects and how could it be otherwise the decision of the constitutional powers of Venezuela regarding the inauguration of the President of that country”.
Tens of thousands of Venezuelans packed the centre of Caracas on the day that Hugo Chavez, cancer-stricken and hospitalized in Cuba for over a month, had to take office for another six years and ended the rally with hands up in a massive oath of loyalty to the president.
Presidents, Foreign ministers and representatives from 22 Latinamerican and Caribbean countries stamped their signatures to a declaration stating their commitment in support of Venezuela and its institutions in the international stage.
The shortest and most sober of a day of emotional speeches and promises was that from Uruguayan president Jose Mujica who asked the massive rally in support of President Hugo Chavez that if the Venezuelan leader “tomorrow is not with us”, then unity, peace and work must prevail.