Venezuela boots U.S. attaché, accuses enemies of Chavez plot

Venezuela accuses enemies of poisoning ailing Chavez

Venezuela accuses its enemies of poisoning ailing President Hugo Chavez and expels a U.S. Embassy attache who it says was seeking military support for a plot. FULL STORY

• Hugo Chavez has breathing problems
• Health worsens   | Controversy  
• Time to respect country's democracy?

  
  

  By Mariano Castillo, CNN

  March 5, 2013 -- Updated 1945 GMT (0345 HKT)
  
  Handout picture taken from Venezuelan Interior Minister Ernesto Villegas' Twitter account on February 15, 2013.
  STORY HIGHLIGHTS

  • Venezuela accused its enemies of attacking ailing President Hugo Chavez
  • An attaché to the U.S. Embassy is expelled and on his way back to Washington
  • Information Minister Ernesto Villegas said Chavez was battling a new infection
  • The president's allies maintain Chavez is continuing to run the country
  (CNN) -- Venezuela accused its domestic and foreign enemies of "attacking" ailing President Hugo Chavez and expelled a U.S. Embassy attaché accused of seeking military support for a plot against the government, Vice President Nicolas Maduro said Tuesday.
  
  David Delmonaco, an Air Force attaché for the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, was expelled Tuesday "for being implicated in (a) conspiratorial plan," the country's information ministry said.
  Opinion: Time to respect Venezuela's democracy?
  Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Todd Breasseale said Delmonaco is currently on his way back to the United States.
  After announcing the expulsion of the attaché, Maduro -- addressing the media in a lengthy statement -- charged that someday, there will be "scientific proof" that Chavez, fighting a battle with cancer, was somehow infected by outsiders. He also called Venezuela's political right-wing an "oligarchy" and an "enemy of the nation."
  The vice president urged supporters to close ranks and exercise "unity and discipline."
  Maduro's comments came after he met with the country's top officials Tuesday about Chavez's worsening health condition. These are "most difficult moments we have experienced" since Chavez' surgery on December 11, he said.
  The country's top leadership -- 20 state governors, Cabinet ministers, the military high command -- were all in attendance at the meeting and news conference, raising speculation that a big announcement was imminent.
  Political opponents of Chavez' government have stepped up their demands for more information on the president's health in recent days. The government has said Chavez is "fighting for his life" and has an infection and respiratory problems, but he has not been seen or heard from publicly in nearly three months.
  Maduro said a more detailed report on the president's condition is forthcoming.
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  Chavez first announced he had cancer in 2011. He spent more than two months in treatment in Cuba recently, returning to Venezuela two weeks ago. Maduro said Chavez's health is in a "complicated situation" and the government has been transparent about his respiratory problems.
  Since Chavez underwent surgery in December, government accounts about his health have been vague. The last glimpse Venezuelans had of their leader was last month when the government released a series of photographs that showed a smiling Chavez -- his face bloated -- lying on a blue pillow, flanked by his two daughters.
  On Monday, Information Minister Ernesto Villegas said Chavez was battling a new infection and that his breathing problems had worsened.
  "There is a worsening of the respiratory function, related to the state of his depressed immune system," Villegas said, reading an official statement on state-run VTV.
  He reported Chavez is battling a new and "severe" infection, stressing that his overall condition remains "very delicate." Chavez is undergoing chemotherapy and other treatments, he said.
  "The president continues to hold fast to Christ and to life, aware of the difficulties he's facing," Villegas said.
  The president began chemotherapy after his fourth cancer surgery in Cuba in December, and he is continuing the "intense" treatment at a military hospital in Caracas, according to Maduro.
  It was Chavez's decision to return to his country from Cuba to resume the post-operative treatment, Maduro said Tuesday. COPY http://edition.cnn.com/