The Venezuelan government has released photographs of ailing President Hugo Ch谩vez, who has not made a public appearance since he left for Cuba in December.
, Ch谩vez, 58, is breathing with the help of a "tracheal cannula," or , a kind of tube inserted during a tracheotomy to help a patient breathe.
The pictures do not show Ch谩vez with a breathing tube. Instead, they show him smiling and reading Cuba's official communist newspaper Granma along with his two daughters. On the cover of Granma is of the paper.
As we've told you, Ch谩vez is in Cuba to receive treatment for an unknown kind of cancer. Last year, he won reelection easily after a bruising campaign, .
El Universal reports the pictures were the first of Ch谩vez during his 68-day absence. The communications minister Ernesto Villegas said in a statement that Ch谩vez suffered a respiratory infection following a surgery. It was controlled, he said according to El Universal, but his breathing is still insufficient.
"Given the circumstance, which is being treated, commander Ch谩vez is breathing with help from a tube, which makes it difficult for him to talk," Villegas said.
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