NEW YORK, (Reuters) – An email circulating among Internet users that claims Venezuela’s president Hugo Chavez has died is false and carries a computer virus, the national police of Panama said on its website today.
Chavez was most recently seen in public yesterday in Caracas where he gave a long news conference.
“Don’t open the email that says ‘Death of Hugo Chavez.’ It is false and carries a virus that can damage your computer,” Panama’s police said on its website (http://www.policia.gob.pa/) and in a message sent out on Twitter.
Venezuelan officials repeatedly deny rumors about Chavez’s death, accusing political opponents of spreading them maliciously. The president was robust and garrulous during a three-hour news conference on Tuesday to mark the 13th anniversary of his election victory.
Rumors that Chavez was dead were circulating in financial markets today.
A spokeswoman for Panama’s police confirmed that the warning about the false email had been issued by the police department.
