Chávez has respiratory failure due to a "severe infection".
The information was given by the Venezuelan Minister of Communications, Ernesto Villegas, who also denounced the media's "psychological warfare" on the matter; the government still denies that the president is in an induced coma and says he will return to the country "sooner rather than later."
247 with international agencies - Venezuelan Communications Minister Ernesto Villegas reported last night that President Hugo Chávez is suffering from respiratory failure caused by a "severe lung infection".
"This infection has resulted in respiratory failure, which requires Commander Chávez to strictly adhere to the medical treatment," he added. Villegas reiterated the government's confidence in the medical team attending Chávez, "which has provided constant monitoring of the patient's clinical progress and acted with the utmost rigor in the face of each of the difficulties presented," he said.
Furthermore, he denounced the "psychological warfare that the transnational media has waged around the health of the head of state in order to destabilize" Venezuela and disregard the popular will expressed in the October 7 elections, which Chávez won.
On Thursday, Vice President Nicolás Maduro stated that Chávez "is aware of all the complex circumstances he is experiencing," but assured that the president will be back in the country "sooner rather than later."
The Spanish newspaper ABC reported that the Bolivarian leader is in an induced coma in Havana. According to the publication, doctors have already considered turning off the machines, which could lead to the patient's death. Venezuelan authorities deny this information.
The Venezuelan leader has been hospitalized in Cuba for more than twenty days, since undergoing delicate surgery to treat cancer in the pelvic region. It was his fourth surgical procedure since the disease was diagnosed in June of last year.