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It’s been almost two weeks since Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez has made a public appearance. The 56-year-old leader, a television regular since he took power in 1999, hasn’t been heard from publicly since he was hospitalized in Cuba June 10 for a “pelvic abscess,” which is raising serious questions about the fate of his 2012 re-election campaign and gross questions about his pelvis.
Officials have said Chávez is fine and giving orders from Havana, but citizens aren’t buying it, according to French wire service Agence France-Presse.
His disappearance from the public eye, combined with prison riots-turned-“massacres,” rampant inflation, a growing national debt and an electricity crisis, has left many looking for more from the leader, the AP reports. Their story also cited a poll from 18 countries in which Chávez earned a 3.9 out of 10 rating, the worst rating among the listed world leaders, second only to his pal Fidel Castro.
Maybe he’s just going to stay in Cuba; Venezuela doesn’t sound like a fun place to be in charge anymore.
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