The Star Online: World Updates
The Star Online: World Updates |
- Chavez's breathing problems worsen, has severe new infection
- U.S., China teach tentative deal on North Korea sanctions
- Canada's Ouellet suggests others may be better for pope
| Chavez's breathing problems worsen, has severe new infection Posted: 04 Mar 2013 08:53 PM PST CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's breathing problems have worsened and he is suffering from a "severe" new respiratory infection as he struggles to recover from cancer surgery, the government said in a sombre medical update on Monday.
The 58-year-old socialist leader has not been seen in public nor heard from in almost three months since undergoing the operation in Cuba. It was his fourth surgery since the disease was detected in mid-2011. "Today there is a worsening of his respiratory function, related to his depressed immune system. There is now a new, severe infection," Information Minister Ernesto Villegas said, reading the latest brief statement on Chavez's condition. Chavez made a surprise pre-dawn homecoming two weeks ago with none of the fanfare and celebration that had accompanied previous returns from treatment in Havana. The government said he is now fighting for his life at a Caracas military hospital. Armed guards are providing heavy security outside. "The president has been receiving high-impact chemotherapy, along with other complementary treatments ... his general condition continues to be very delicate," Villegas said. Chavez suffered multiple complications after the December 11 surgery, including unexpected bleeding and an earlier severe respiratory infection that officials said had been controlled. The government said he had trouble speaking because he was breathing through a tracheal tube, but that he was giving orders to ministers by writing them down. "The commander-president remains clinging to Christ and to life, conscious of the difficulties that he is facing, and complying strictly with the program designed by his medical team," Villegas said. Chavez had undergone several gruelling rounds of chemotherapy and radiation treatment, which at times left him bald and bloated. He twice wrongly declared himself cured. The only sight of the former soldier since his latest operation were four photos published by the government while he was still in Havana, showing him lying in a hospital bed. Following an emotional Mass at the military hospital on Friday, Vice President Nicolas Maduro - Chavez's preferred successor if he is unable to carry on as president - said the president had decided for himself several days earlier that he would return to Venezuela from Cuba. Chavez was going to begin a "tougher and more intense" phase of his treatment, Maduro said, and he wanted to be in Caracas. CHAVEZ'S HOMECOMING Maduro said that included chemotherapy - prompting some in the opposition to question whether chemotherapy can be successfully given to patients in such a delicate state. The government is furious at rumours in recent days that Chavez might have died, blaming them on an opposition plot by "far-right fascists" to destabilize the OPEC nation, which boasts the world's biggest oil reserves. "We call on all our people to stay alert, untouched by the psychological war deployed by foreign laboratories with the corrupt Venezuelan right, seeking to generate violence as a pretext for a foreign intervention," Villegas said. "At this time, unity and discipline are the bases to guarantee political stability," he said, adding that the government was accompanying Chavez's children and other relatives in "this battle full of love and spirituality." Opposition leaders have accused Maduro of repeatedly lying about the president's real condition. Several dozen anti-government student protesters have chained themselves up in public to demand proof that Chavez is alive and in Venezuela. "I can't even imagine the party they're going to have tomorrow with this news," pro-Chavez commentator Mario Silva said on state TV on Monday night. "But we all have to keep faith." Should the Venezuelan leader step down or die, an election would be held within 30 days and would probably pit Maduro against opposition leader Henrique Capriles, who lost to Chavez in a presidential election in October. The stakes are also high for the rest of Latin America. Chavez has been the most vocal critic of Washington in the region and has funded hefty aid programs for leftist governments from Bolivia to Cuba. (Additional reporting by Patricia Velez; Editing by Kieran Murray and Christopher Wilson) Copyright © 2013 Reuters | ||
| U.S., China teach tentative deal on North Korea sanctions Posted: 04 Mar 2013 08:01 PM PST UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States and China have struck a tentative deal on a draft U.N. Security Council sanctions resolution that would punish North Korea for its third nuclear test last month, U.N. diplomats said on Monday.
Separately, the U.N. press office announced that Russia, which holds the presidency of the 15-nation Security Council this month, will convene closed-door consultations on North Korea at 11:00 a.m. EST (1600 GMT) in New York on Tuesday. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the U.N. diplomats said they hoped to receive the draft resolution at Tuesday's council session. They added that they hope the council will vote on the resolution by the end of this week. "I hope to see a draft tomorrow perhaps, but you know it's up to the Americans," a diplomat told Reuters on condition of anonymity. The details of the draft were not immediately available. Council diplomats have said that they would like to strengthen the provisions in previous sanctions resolutions adopted after North Korea's 2006 and 2009 nuclear tests, above all those related to the inspection and seizure of shipments of banned items and toughening financial restrictions. The U.N. Security Council strongly condemned North Korea's third nuclear test on February 12 and vowed to take action against Pyongyang for an act that all major world powers, including traditional ally China, denounced. Pyongyang said at the time that the test was an act of self-defence against "U.S. hostility" and threatened stronger steps if necessary. In January the Security Council passed a resolution expanding U.N. sanctions against North Korea due to its December rocket launch and warned Pyongyang against further launches or nuclear tests. North Korea responded by threatening a new atomic detonation, which it then carried out the following month. North Korea's previous nuclear tests had prompted the Security Council to impose sanctions that include a ban on the import of nuclear and missile technology, an arms embargo and a ban on luxury goods imports. There are 17 North Korean entities, including banks and trading companies, on the U.N. blacklist, and nine individuals - all linked to North Korea's nuclear and missile programs. U.N. diplomats say many more entities and individuals could be subject to international asset freezes and travel bans. Beijing has supported all previous sanctions resolutions against Pyongyang but only after working hard to dilute proposed measures in negotiations on the texts. It has been concerned that tougher sanctions could further weaken the North's economy and prompt refugees to flood into China. Copyright © 2013 Reuters | ||
| Canada's Ouellet suggests others may be better for pope Posted: 04 Mar 2013 07:03 PM PST OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet, one of the leading candidates to succeed Pope Benedict, suggested in an interview with Canada's national broadcaster that other candidates for pope might do a better job. "I have to be ready even if I think that probably others could do it better," Ouellet, 68, one of a handful of cardinals seen as papal material, told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp in an interview published late on Sunday. Ouellet, who now works in the Vatican, served as archbishop of Canada's French speaking province of Quebec from 2002 to 2010, a fractious time where uncompromising positions from the Vatican often ran counter to the widespread secularism in Quebec. Pope Benedict subsequently named him to the influential position as prefect of the Congregation of Bishops, which recommends the appointment of bishops to the pope. In a separate interview with the French-language CBC, Ouellet recognized that his name does come up as a possible replacement for Benedict, who stepped down on March 1. "I can't not think about the possibility. Reasonably, when I go into the conclave of cardinals, I have to say to myself, 'What if, what if...' It makes me reflect, it makes me pray, it makes me somewhat afraid. I am very conscious of the weight of the task," he said. "So you have to be ready for any outcome, but I think a certain number of people have more chance of being elected than me." Ouellet said he recognized that the church and the next pope needed to take advantage of social media. Benedict started tweeting in December, as @pontifex. Ouellet said he has been busy, but knows he needs to start tweeting. Ouellet, who once said becoming pope "would be a nightmare", faced controversy in Quebec in 2010, months before being brought over to the Vatican, when he restated the Church's position that abortion is wrong even in the case of rape. That remark drew condemnation from Quebec politicians, and one newspaper columnist wrote that he hoped the clergyman would die a long and painful death. As he left Quebec, he said "the message of truth is not always welcome," but he also asked forgiveness for any harm he may have brought to people. A Canadian journalist who interviewed Ouellet several times described him as a cross between John Paul II and Benedict, more reserved than the former but more photogenic than the latter. But even his friends say he is not charismatic. (Reporting by Randall Palmer; Editing by Janet Guttsman; and Peter Galloway) Copyright © 2013 Reuters |
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