The Venezuelan president, Hugo Chávez, will return on Sunday with his well-known TV program, Aló Presidente, which has been on hiatus for seven months. This will be the first show since Chávez recovered from the cancer that was diagnosed in June, said a government spokesman on Wednesday.
“This Sunday, Aló Presidente returns. VictoryWithChavez2012,” wrote the minister of Communication and Information, Andrés Izarra, on his Twitter account.
The last episode of the program was broadcast on June 5 of last year. The show has been on the air since May 23, 1999, when it was broadcast the studios of Radio Nacional de Venezuela, before appearing as well on the state television channel, VTV.
The program became irregularly scheduled in April and May, because Chávez suffered various health problems, such as the flu and knee trouble, which removed him from political activity for several weeks. Chávez reduced his usual appearances on television and in public, after having been operated on for a pelvic abscess in Cuba in June. From there, he announced to the world that he had been suffering from cancer, though he did not reveal which type, or the exact location thereof.
In order to combat the disease, Chávez received chemotherapy in Caracas and Havana. The last round was completed in September.
Six months after having been diagnosed with cancer, Chávez said he had recuperated from it, and predicted that 2012 will be a year of “lots of work” leading up to the presidential elections of October 7, in which he seeks re-election to a third mandate.
Aló Presidente has become an important tool of the government. With it, Chávez, who has appeared on camera for as long as eight hours at a stretch, communicates presidential decisions and develops his vision on various topics.
Translation mine.
Aló Presidente is now also on Twitter and Facebook, according to Aporrea, which also reports that the coming episode will be broadcast from the Orinoco oilfields.
And from Argentina:
Today (Friday), eating normally, with no intravenous line and normal clinical and laboratory controls, waiting for release within the coming hours…
Translation mine, again.
Cristina was diagnosed shortly before the holidays with thyroid cancer, and her surgery to remove the tumor was two days ago. According to the official communiqué from the presidential palace, the Casa Rosada, she was to be released from hospital within 72 hours of the operation, and will be off work until January 20.
¡Fuerza Cristina, y VIVA CHÁVEZ!