“Not true” – Chavez ‘s health defended by Dominica’s Ambassador to Venezuela

Dominica: According to a report on the Dominica NewsOnline, Dominica’s Ambassador to Venezuela Dr. Philbert Aaron, said that it’s “not true” making reference to the latest media reports that President Hugo Chavez had been given less than one year to live.

Some sections of the media reported this week that while Chavez declared himself cancer-free since undergoing surgery in Cuba to remove a tumour and said no ‘malignant cells’ had been found, medical sources close to the controversial leader have countered his claims and insist that his prognosis couldn’t be worse, adding that he will be lucky to survive until the presidential elections in October.

However Dr. Aaron told Dominica News Online, that nothing could be further from the truth. “News of the health as was communicated to us should not be believed. I have been reliably informed by Caracas that the President’s health situation is not as was described by the newscast. This would concern Dominica and myself because President Chavez is the brother and friend of Prime Minister, Roosevelt Skerrit. Also, the people of Dominica share very strong bonds with the people of Venezuela as well as with President Chavez, who has visited Dominica officially twice. We in Dominica share something additional with President Chavez and his political movement. This is to say that we have been the target of misinformation that is calculated to do political harm,” he explained.

The Brazilian magazine Veja, which claims to have spoken to medics treating Chavez, revealed that the president’s cancer, which had been confined to his colon and prostate gland, has now spread to other parts of his body, including his bones. According to the magazine, Cuban surgeons botched an operation to remove prostate cancer, which may have caused the disease to spread more quickly.