Chavez calling the shots again

VENEZUELA: President Hugo Chavez's condition is improving and he is already “giving instructions” from his bed in Havana as he continues to recover from cancer surgery, a cabinet member said Sunday.

The announcement came as Venezuelans cast ballots in gubernatorial elections overshadowed by concerns over Chavez, who was re-elected to another six-year term in October despite fears he had not overcome the disease. “As of yesterday, El Comandante had already resumed communicating with us, giving instructions, governing in fact, giving instructions to be implemented in our country,” said Science and Technology Minister Jorge Arreaza.

“He continues to recover, positively, day after day, hour after hour,” Arreaza, husband of Chavez's eldest daughter, said in a phone call broadcast on state television. Both have been at the president's side in Havana.

The president “urged all Venezuelans, especially patriotic ones... to exercise their duty and right to vote today to consolidate all the areas that will help us keep moving forward on social justice,” the minister added.

The voting for the 23 state governors of the country with the world's largest proven oil reserves is a key test for Henrique Capriles, the opposition leader Chavez beat in presidential elections in October. Capriles -- governor of populous Miranda state, which includes part of Caracas -- is seeking re-election and a consolidated status as leader of an array of parties that oppose Chavez, a garrulous former paratrooper who has thoroughly dominated this nation since first being elected in 1999.

Arreaza had already declared in the run-up to the elections on Saturday that 58-year-old Chavez was “mentally fully fit” and that his health was “improving” after six hours of surgery on Tuesday.

AFP