CARACAS,Venezuela, Dec. 9, CMC – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has named Vice President Nicolas Maduro to succeed him if he is unable to remain to office, as he heads again to Cuba once again for cancer treatment.
In a national television and radio address, Chavez, 58, said he requires more surgery after malignant cells were detected during health examinations held over the past month in Cuba.
“There is risk in this process that you can’t deny,” said Chavez, disclosing that he has asked the National Assembly for permission to travel to Havana, the Cuban capital, on Sunday.
“If something happens that disables me some way, my irrevocable opinion is that you should elect Nicolas Maduro as the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela,” he added.
“They told me the surgery should have been yesterday or this weekend, but I told them I had to return to Venezuela,” Chavez said. “I need to return to Havana.”
Under Venezuelan law, if the president is too ill to carry out his duties, the vice president would assume office until the beginning of the new presidential term on January 10.
The law also states that if the President is unable to attend the inauguration scheduled on that date, the President of the National Assembly would assume power while elections are arranged within 30 days.
In addition, the law states that if the president takes office and then becomes too ill within the first four years of the term, the vice president takes over the presidency for 30 days while elections are held.
Since June 2011, Chavez has undergone three surgeries to remove two tumors.
He had disappeared from public view from November 15 until his return to Venezuela early on Friday. He had left for the Spanish-speaking Caribbean country to aid his recovery from an unspecified form of cancer.
Chavez first told his compatriots he had cancer in June 2011 after undergoing surgery in Cuba to drain an abscess from his pelvic area during which he said doctors discovered a baseball-sized tumor in the same area.
“In any circumstance, we should guarantee the progression of the revolution,” Chavez told the national television and radio audience on Saturday night.
“But this is how life goes,” he added. “God willing, I hope to be able to give you good news in the coming days.”
