World press weighs Venezuela's future after Chávez's news

The news given by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez on "a new lesion" and the need to undergo another surgery was posted on several informational websites around the world. In addition to reporting on the announcement, it was speculated on Venezuela's political future.

The most controversial one was Spain's ABC daily newspaper. It affirmed that the president's disease was so advanced to such an extent that his life expectancy was estimated at one year only. According to the newspaper, the Head of State "has a new cancerous mass of approximately 2 x 1.5 centimeters in the colon upper segment." The paper added that the Venezuelan president could die before the presidential election next October 7 in the absence of appropriate therapy.

The Miami Herald and the Wall Street Journal also labeled Chávez's health condition as serious; they asserted that the Venezuelan government lies on the president's condition.

Colombia's daily newspaper El Tiempo included the president's diseases in its Topics of the Day and prepared a special article which gathers Chávez's remarks and the opinion of experts. Luis Vicente León, for instance, was quoted as saying that "the positive impact of solidarity because of a disease in politics tends to be lower and shorter a second time."