Chavez Allies Gather as Venezuela Leader Too Ill for Oath
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Tens of thousands of Venezuelans took a symbolic oath in Caracas in place of President Hugo Chavez, whose battle with cancer prevented him from attending his own inauguration to a third six-year term today.
Representatives from 27 countries, including Bolivian President Evo Morales, Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega and Paraguay’s Fernando Lugo attended a government-organized rally in Caracas to express solidarity with the socialist leader, who is struggling to recover from his fourth cancer-related surgery last month in Havana. Other allies, including the presidents of Argentina and Ecuador, sent their foreign ministers.