Hugo Chávez' cancer was caused by "imperialist poisoning," alleges Bolivian president Evo Morales

MGR's Opinion -
They're chewing way too much cooca leaf in La Paz


*Updated Mar. 16*
Guadalajara -
Funeral services for late Venezuelan president Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías concluded yesterday, and most world leaders who attended have left Caracas or are winging their way home today.

Chávez died Tuesday afternoon after a two year bout with an officially undisclosed form of cancer. Sources have reported that an aggressive prostate cancer eventually spread to his lymphatic system, colon and bones. Hugo Chávez is dead, Venezuela reports.

Not true, says Bolivian president Evo Morales, one of Chávez' closest personal friends and among his staunchest allies. The leader of the "Bolivarian revolution" was, in net effect, murdered, he claims.

"I'm almost convinced our brother Chávez was poisoned by The Empire," said Morales, in an unmistakable reference to the United States. "Our brothers in Venezuela are going to conduct a thorough investigation with a commission of scientists," Morales added after arriving home in the Bolivian capital of La Paz.

He said that the Caracas government suspects "historic enemies" of Venezuela were behind the poisoning plot.

"The Empire has everything it needs to plan actions designed to topple governments, political leaders and social movements which are opposed to capitalism. When they're unable to defeat them, or carry out a coup d'état, they just finish off the head guy."

Morales cited former Palestinian leader Yaser Arafat as another example. The body of Arafat, who died in November 2004, was exhumed in late 2012 to determine if there is evidence he was poisoned. There have been persistent allegations of such, as well as claims that Arafat was injected with HIV cells. A team of French, Swiss and Russian forensic scientists has not yet released its report.

Morales also told reporters that Chávez was very careful about what he ate and drank when he was outside of his own country. "I was one of the few he had no concerns about."

He added, "Chávez was a source of great political inspiration for all of us. He made me lose my fear of standing up to imperialism. He conveyed so much strength just by telling things the way they are."

Hugo Chávez himself publicly speculated months ago about what he called the "unusual number" of diagnosed cancers in Latin American leaders. The day before Chávez died, Venezuela's interim leader and probable next president, Nicolás Maduro, made comments similar to those of Morales.

Mar. 10 - El cáncer de Hugo Chávez - Un diagnóstico exacto y un médico en fuga

Mar. 12 - Venezuela and the United States have traded diplomatic expulsions. On Mar. 4, the day before Chávez died, Maduro expelled two American military attachés who were assigned to the U.S. embassy staff in Caracas. Yesterday the U.S. retaliated by declaring a pair of Venezuelan diplomats, one in New York and the other in Washington, as personas non gratis. Both have already left. The countries have not had full ambassadors in each other's capitals since 2010.

Mar. 16 - After reading these two articles, MGR may have to rethink its position. Spanish: Cáncer, ¿arma secreta?. English: Cancer, the secret weapon?
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Despite protests from opposition leaders that his appointment is unlawful, Venezuela's Supreme Court named Nicolás Maduro as interim president of the nation until elections are held on April 14. Maduro was hand picked by Chávez and is absolutely committed to carry on the late president's domestic and foreign policies. Before he joined the government 20 years ago, the fifty year old Maduro was a bus driver. His wife, who is nine years his senior, is the country's attorney general. Maduro is described as a hard line leftist and devotee of Cuban socialism, a la Raul and Fidel Castro.

Apr. 25 - Venezuela arrests U.S. national Timothy Hallett Tracy, claiming he was sent to lead "right wing destabilization"

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