Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez in a coma 'only kept alive by life support' after cancer surgery

[WestVirginiaRebel]

UK Daily Mail:

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez is in an induced coma being kept alive by life support following complications during cancer surgery, it was claimed today.

Sources at the hospital in Cuba where he is being treated told a Spanish newspaper he was showing 'very weak' vital signs, adding that doctors could decide to switch off the machines 'at any moment'.

With rumours swirling that Chavez had taken a turn for the worse, Venezuela's Vice President Nicolas Maduro said the ailing president's condition remains 'delicate' three weeks after his cancer surgery.

He did not provide further information about the president's condition and told Venezuelan's to ignore speculation about his health.

Many Venezuelan's have been left frustrated over the lack of information over the president's condition.

Chavez's political opponents have complained that the government hasn't told the country nearly enough and have demanded it provide the country with a full medical report.

Even some of his supporters say they wished they knew more.

In a pre-recorded interview in Havana, which was broadcast Tuesday night by the Caracas-based television network Telesur, Maduro said: 'He's totally conscious of the complexity of his post-operative state and he expressly asked us ... to keep the nation informed always, always with the truth, as hard as it may be in certain circumstances.'

Both supporters and opponents of Chavez have been on edge in the past week amid shifting signals from the government about the president's health.

Chavez has not been seen or heard from since the December 11 operation, and officials have reported a series of ups and downs in his recovery - the most recent, on Sunday, announcing that he faced new complications from a respiratory infection.

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He's just resting...