CARACAS -- Of all the people flocking here Thursday to mark President Hugo Chávez’s new six-year term, the man of the hour, the ailing Comandante, will not be among them.
On Tuesday, National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello announced that Chávez will miss the event, as he remains in Cuba where he is recovering from complicated cancer surgery that has kept him incommunicado for a month.
Reading a statement from the vice president’s office, Cabello said Chávez’s medical team advised him not to return. “His post-surgery recovery will extend beyond Jan. 10,” Cabello said. “That is why he cannot appear before the assembly on that date.”