Hugo Chávez fighting 'for his life,' VP says

CARACAS, Venezuela -- Vice president Nicolas Maduro said yesterday that Hugo Chávez is still fighting for his life, yet a recent poll says three in five Venezuelans believe their president will return to power.

Maduro, Chávez's self-appointed successor, said on television that his boss "is battling there for his health, for his life, and we're accompanying him." He had characterized Chávez's condition similarly on Dec. 20, saying the president "is fighting a great battle . . . for his life, for his health."

Chávez hasn't spoken or been seen since before his fourth operation in Cuba on Dec. 11 for an unspecified cancer in the pelvic area.

The government says he has been breathing with the help of a tracheal tube after surviving a serious respiratory infection. It says Chávez returned on Feb. 18 and is at a military hospital in Caracas for continued treatment for "respiratory insufficiency."-- AP