BY MOHAMMAD SHOEB
DOHA: Ambassadors of Cuba, Ernesto D Plasencia Escalante and the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mohammad Jawad Asayesh assembled at the Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to extend their support, solidarity and best wishes for the quick recovery of the ailing President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez here yesterday.
A large number of expatriates (from Venezuela and Cuba) also assembled at the embassy premise, many with num eyes to express their deep concern for the president who is currently recovering from his fourth cancer operation in Havana, Cuba.
“This is an international event for the support of President Hugo Chavez during his struggle to overcome cancer disease after his surgery. So the people of Venezuela and around the world are holding meetings at the embassies of the country globally,” Dr Juan Antonio Hernandez, Ambassador of Venezuela told The Peninsula.
Detailing the operation and the present health condition of the ailing president, he said: “President Chavez is recovering from the fourth surgery. It was a long and delicate operation in which the president lost a lot of blood, but he is doing very well now”. Explaining about the the cancer, the Ambassador said: “I do not have specific information about it… but it is below the waist”. Ambassador Asayesh said: “Cuba and Venezuela are best friends of Iran. God willing, I wish, the president Hugo Chevez will recover from his operation very soon and get back to normal life. We wish long-life to Chavez and Castro”.
Qatar and Venezuela, the two energy rich countries, share strong relationships with each other for years and have signed different Memorandum of Understandings.
There are over 800 Venezuelans working here, most of them being engineers working with oil and gas companies.
More than one hundred expatriates, including doctors and paramedic staff from the Cuban hospital at Dukhan also came to attend the campaign with candles and pictures of Hugo Chavez to extend their support for the president.
Chavez is the most popular leader of the communist country, and is the current president of Venezuela, having held that position since 1999. On October 7, 2012, he won election as president for a fourth time, defeating Henrique Capriles, and is expected to serve for six years from January 10, 2013 –January 10, 2019.
However, before leaving for Havana on November 27, he addressed to the nation and named his Vice-President, Nicolas Maduro as the most appropriate man to replace him incase anything goes wrong with him.
Earlier Chaves underwent surgeries for unspecified type of cancer in the pelvic region in June 2011 and last February along with chemotherapy and radiation treatments.
Asked, if there is any possibility of improvement in the relations between Caracas and Washington, Hernandez said: “There is a possibility but we need to wait for some positive gestures from Washington. We expect respect from Washington, which is the basic ground in order to build bilateral relations between the two countries. The Peninsula
