Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez speculated late
Wednesday that the United States may be to blame for a spate of
cancers among Latin American leaders.
The left-wing leader, who earlier this year underwent an operation
to remove a tumour, did not rule out the possibility that the U.S. had
developed a secret technology to cause cancer in individuals.
However this could only be verified in 50 years' time, Chavez
claimed.
The comments came hours after it emerged that Argentinian
President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner is to undergo surgery for
thyroid cancer.
Former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is recovering
from cancer of the larynx, while current Brazilian President Dilma
Rousseff and Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo have also been
diagnosed with cancer in recent years.
Chavez said he did not want to point the finger of blame, and was
merely speculating, but added that it all seemed "very, very
strange."
The 57-year-old, a fierce critic of the US, faces presidential
elections in the coming year.
