Doctor who spoke of Chavez’s cancer leaves Venezuela

CARACAS, (Reuters) – A Venezuelan doctor who  forecast President Hugo Chavez would die of cancer within two  years said today he had left the country with his family  after colleagues reported police visiting his consultancy.
Salvador Navarrete, who attended Chavez a decade ago and is  in touch with some relatives and members of his medical team,  caused uproar in Venezuela with comments last weekend that the  president had a serious cancer — sarcoma — in the pelvis.
Chavez allies accused him of “morbid” motives and  “necrophilia”. Then his version was directly contradicted by  Chavez, who returned from tests in Cuba on Thursday declaring  he was free of malignant cells.
Medical personnel say police visited Navarrete’s office  earlier this week at Caracas’s Avila Clinic, checking  files and computers, while the doctor was not present.
In an open letter published by local media, Navarrete said  he wanted to “show his face” and have a public discussion about  Chavez’s health but had felt obliged to leave to an undisclosed  location given the furor.
“Events forced me to leave the country abruptly, something  I neither wanted nor had planned to do,” Navarrete wrote.
Chavez’s health is the all-consuming issue for the South  American OPEC member nation of 29 million people one year ahead  of a presidential election where he wants to be re-elected.
In his letter, Navarrete said the interview with Mexico’s  Milenio Semanal magazine was intended to combat official  secrecy over Chavez’s condition.
“I’m worried that the president and those around him do not  know the full magnitude of his illness given it has been  handled with complete secrecy,” he said.
“The consequences of a fatal outcome, and the importance of  informing both those who support him and those who oppose him,  were the reasons that led me to tackle this delicate subject.”
The flamboyant socialist leader’s assurance he is fit and  ready to begin his election campaign has met with skepticism  from doctors, who say no cancer patient can be considered free  from danger until at least two years after treatment.
Analysts, too, have seen an element of classic Chavez  political theater in his fanfare homecoming from medical tests  in Cuba followed by an open-top caravan to a regional Catholic  shrine where he prayed and gave thanks for his recovery.
Supporters, though, are thrilled at the return of their  “Comandante”, who declared his improvement was a “miracle.”
Navarrete ratified his original prognosis of Chavez.
“His physical disappearance right now could be more  traumatic than politicians realize,” he added in the letter.