When campaigning for a new six-year term earlier this year, Hugo Chavez tried to persuade Venezuelans that he was cured of unspecified "pelvic" cancer, first diagnosed in June 201a. "I've forgotten all about that," he bragged, just days before the election on October 7th, which he won with 55% of the vote. He then disappeared from view, except for an occasional, carefully staged broadcast. But on November 27th he left for medical treatment in Havana, returning briefly last weekend with a very different story-one that would seem to presage his imminent retirement from his country's politics, and perhaps from life itself.
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