Opposition Demands Expert Evaluation of Chavez Health

MEXICO (RIA Novosti) - Venezuelan opposition politicians demanded the authorities to allow an expert evaluation of whether President Hugo Chavez is fit for presidential duties, Mexican media reported on Wednesday.

The opposition said official reports about the health of the president, who underwent his fourth operation to remove cancerous tissue in Cuba on December 11, were vague.

Carlos Vecchio demanded the country’s Supreme Court to set up a commission of doctors who would evaluate the president’s health condition. He also said that a group of lawmakers should visit Cuba for an unbiased report on Chavez’s health.

“We are being told that the president calls [Vice-President Nicolas] Maduro. However, after his previous surgeries in Cuba Chavez always made direct calls to [Venezuelan state TV] VTV. He does not do it anymore,” Vecchio said.

Opposition leader Julio Borges added: “There is no information, no desire to tell the truth to Venezuelans.”

Chavez, 58, who has ruled Venezuela for 13 years, underwent three operations for cancer and four courses of chemotherapy in Cuba and Venezuela within a year. He agreed to the fourth surgery after recent tests had revealed malignant cells.

He is scheduled to be inaugurated to a new six-year presidential term on January 10, 2013.