Summary Photos released on Friday showing the Venezuelan leader alongside his daughters in Havana.
The world got its first glimpse of Hugo Chavez since he underwent a fourth cancer-related surgery in Cuba more than two months ago, with photos released Friday showing the Venezuelan leader alongside his daughters in Havana.
Along with images of the puffy-faced Chavez came a government explanation for why no one has heard from the longtime president since his surgery: He s breathing through a tracheal tube that makes speech difficult.
Chavez s government described his condition as "delicate" and said he continues to undergo "vigorous treatment for his fundamental illness." The images and new details filled a vacuum of information about Chavez s condition that has spurred rampant speculation in Venezuela. Government officials say Chavez has been recovering in Cuba since undergoing cancer surgery on Dec. 11.
The four photos show Chavez reclining on what appears to be a bed, a blue pillow behind his head. He smiles broadly, while his daughters Rosa and Maria lean in close to him.
Three of the images show Chavez looking at Thursday s issue of the Cuban Communist Party newspaper Granma, his daughters still flanking him. Chavez s son-in-law, Science and Technology Minister Jorge Arreaza, showed the photos on Venezuelan state television.
Speculation has been widespread in Venezuela about Chavez s condition, with the president not publicly seen or heard from since he left for Cuba on Dec. 10. During previous treatments in Havana, Chavez spoke on Venezuelan TV or appeared in photos.
Information Minister Ernesto Villegas said Friday that the tracheal tube makes talking difficult for Chavez.
"After two months of a complicated post-operative process, the patient remains conscious, with his intellectual functions intact, in close communication with his government team," Villegas said, reading from a statement on television.
Villegas reiterated that Chavez has overcome a respiratory infection that arose after the surgery, "although a certain grade of (breathing) insufficiency persists."
"Given that circumstance, which is being duly treated, Comandante Chavez is currently breathing through a tracheal cannula, which temporarily hinders speech," Villegas said.
Villegas also said Chavez s doctors are "applying vigorous treatment for his fundamental illness," an apparent reference to cancer. He said that treatment "isn t free of complications."
Government opponents have been demanding more information about Chavez s condition, and have asked why he hasn t spoken to the nation to explain his condition.
