Venezuela VP: Chavez 'battling' for life

[Zorro]

http://news.yahoo.com/venezuela-vp-chavez-battling-life-182830405.html

Wonder how much longer the charade will continue.

[joshcryer]

1. I was told he was on the road to recovery.

And that the Venezuelan people believed he would recover.

[COLGATE4]

2. He may still technically be 'alive' but

I think what's going on now is frantic positioning for succession . Maduro is afraid the Atmy is getting skittish and perhaps may worry that it may step in (as it has in the past). So for the time being it's musical chairs while Chavez either lingers on or could conceivably even be dead.

[Zorro]

3. I agree

I think there's a Venezuelan constitutional crisis in the making. Zombie Hugo hasn't been officially sworn in (and they probably can't convene a private swearing-in ceremony, because it would reveal to those outside the immediate circle just how incapacitated he is), and if he croaks before being sworn in, then what?

I suspect the knives are out, and there's a lot of behind-the-scenes jockeying between Maduro, Diosdado Cabello, and Rangel Silva. The earlier news article about the army's commitment to Chavez was revealing to me.