Venezuelans gathered on plazas and in churches to pray for President Hugo Chavez amid what seems an increasingly gloomy outlook for the ailing leader in his fight against cancer.
Following an announcement that Chavez had suffered “new complications” from a respiratory infection after undergoing cancer surgery in Cuba, people were out in the streets of Caracas on Monday talking about the leftist president’s chances of surviving.
“He’s history now,” said Cesar Amaro, a street vendor selling newspapers and snacks at a kiosk downtown. He motioned to a daily on the rack showing side-by-side photos of vice-president Nicolas Maduro and National Assembly president Diosdado Cabello, and said politics will now turn to them.
The vendor said he expected a new election soon to replace Chavez, who won re-election in October. “For an illness like the one the president has, his days are numbered now,” Amaro said.
In Bolivar Plaza in downtown Caracas, Chavez’s supporters strummed guitars and read poetry in his honour on New Year’s Eve. They sang along with a recording of the president belting out the national anthem.
About 300 people filled a Caracas church for a Mass to pray for Chavez. “This country would be terrible without Chavez. He’s the president of the poor,” said Josefa Carvajal, a 75-year-old former maid who sat in the pews.