CARACAS, Venezuela — A tempest in an ink pot has broken out over the signature of President Hugo Chávez, which suddenly appeared on a government decree this week despite his long absence from the country.
The case of the mysterious signature comes as Mr. Chávez remains out of public view since undergoing cancer surgery in Havana on Dec. 11. He is still in Cuba, officials say, undergoing what they call a delicate recovery, which left him too sick to be sworn in on Jan. 10.
Now the appearance of the signed decree in a government publication on Wednesday has put a new twist on the fight over how the country should proceed without him.