Free Republic

One of Hugo Chavez's brothers said Monday that the Venezuelan president is expected to return home from Cuba in the coming days as he continues to recover nearly six weeks after undergoing cancer surgery. Argenis Chavez, one of the president's five brothers and the president of the National Electric Corporation, told The Associated Press that the president continues to recover

Americas: Venezuela's Hugo Chavez is dying of cancer in Havana, in a live demonstration of Cuba's vaunted socialized medical care. He went there instead of Brazil because he wanted to make a political statement. What irony. As party cronies hover at his bedside, Cuban officials bark orders to the government in Caracas, and red-shirted Chavistas hold vigils, all signs are pointing to an imminent exit for the Venezuelan leader who controls a huge part of the world's oil. He's going out exactly as he wouldn't have liked — helpless and at the mercy of doctors, a far cry from the...

Chávez Successor an Ex-Bus Driver, Peripatetic, Hindu-Mystic Devotee By KEJAL VYAS And JOSÉ DE CÓRDOBA CARACAS—Nicolas Maduro has gone from driving a bus to becoming ailing President Hugo Chávez's handpicked choice to continue his vision of socialism and possibly lead Venezuela, an oil-rich republic of 29 million. Mr. Chávez, who said this past weekend he has suffered another relapse in his long battle with cancer, named Mr. Maduro as his successor. It was the first time Mr. Chávez talked publicly about who might replace him, prompting many analysts to speculate that the former army tank commander believes himself to be...

In the clearest indicator yet that Chavez's health problems could spell an end to his tumultuous years at the helm of the OPEC nation, he said supporters should vote for Vice-President Nicolas Maduro if a new election had to be held. His departure would trigger an election and mark the end of an era for the Latin American left, depriving them of one of their most acerbic voices. A clutch of nations in the region, from Cuba and Nicaragua to Bolivia and Ecuador, depend on Chavez's oil-fuelled generosity to bolster their fragile economies. An unruly transition from Chavez's highly centralized...