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Venezuela - Cuba

Venezuela denies Chavez seriously ill

Venezuela’s vice-president has denied rumours that President Hugo Chavez is seriously ill, as a Miami-based paper reported that he is in a “critical” but stable state after undergoing an operation in Cuba.

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Elias Jaua said on Saturday that Chavez was "recuperating to continue the battle" and accused national and international media of “rubbing their hands and rejoicing about the state of the president's health".

"They [the opposition] know they cannot win the elections against our commander, Hugo Chavez, so they are always waiting for a situation like this to try to overtake us," Jaua said.

Earlier the Spanish-language El Nuevo Herald cited an unnamed US intelligence as saying that Chavez "is in critical condition - not on the brink of death, but critical indeed, and complicated."

The same sources said Chavez's daughter, Rosines, and his mother, Marisabel Rodriguez, were recently whisked off to Cuba in an air force plane.

"They took Marisabel and her daughter out urgently," another source told the paper.

Chavez, who was last photographed being visited by Cuban President Raul Castro and his brother Fidel on 17 June, sent a Twitter message on Friday to say that his youngest daughter and three grandchildren has arrived in Cuba to visit him.

Officials say that he has been operated on for a pelvic abscess, after being rushed into hospital on 8 June.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy this week wished Chavez a rapid recovery, sayinghe hoped to meet him soon to discuss bilateral relations.

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