Chavez calls for regional unity
2013-01-28 19:47
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Santiago - Hugo Chavez, Venezuela's cancer-stricken
president, made his presence felt at a regional summit on Monday with a flowery
letter from his sickbed in Cuba that was laced with literary references and
calls for Latin American unity.
Chavez has not been seen in public since cancer surgery
in Cuba in mid-December, missing his own inauguration for a new six-year term
this month and fuelling uncertainty over the illness jeopardising his 14-year
rule.
Vice President Nicolas Maduro, a former bus driver who
Chavez has named as his preferred successor, read the 15-minute long, typed
letter to heads of state gathered in Chile.
"I'm sorry I can't attend this meeting in Santiago
de Chile, but as you all know, since December I've been battling once again for
my health," read the letter, which was sprinkled with quotes from
well-known Latin American writers including Chilean poet Pablo Neruda.
The absence of the loquacious leader was conspicuous at
the Celac-EU summit in Chile, as many foreign leaders and diplomats fret about
the stability of the Opec nation.
Chavez's fiery leftist rhetoric often made headlines at
regional gatherings.
Five years ago at another summit in Chile, Spain's king
famously told Chavez to "shut up”.
The socialist president was a driving force behind the
creation of the Celac, or Community of Latin American and Caribbean States,
which was established in 2011 in a drive to increase regional integration and
counter US influence in the hemisphere.
In Monday's letter, he called for even closer unity.
"Now more than ever, we can say that we have truly
followed in the footsteps of our liberators."
