Hugo Gye: US is Giving South American Leaders Cancer?

The US government could be responsible for a recent spate of cancer among South American leaders, according to Venezuela's outspoken president Hugo Chavez. He suggested that the US might have "invented technology to spread cancer", and warned other left-wing heads of state that they could be targeted next. Mr. Chavez, one of several Latin American leaders to have contracted the disease in the last year, said he had developed his theories after Fidel Castro described the CIA's repeated attempts to assassinate him. Although the Venezuelan leader insisted he was 'not accusing anyone', his controversial theory is unlikely to improve relations between the US and Venezuela. Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, president of Argentina, announced on Tuesday that she was suffering from thyroid cancer, which has a high survival rate. Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez received treatment in Cuba earlier this year for an unknown cancer. He had his fourth and final bout of chemotherapy in Cuba last month. He had surgery to remove a tumor from his pelvic region in June, and is now being evaluated by doctors, who hope he may fully recover. Argentinian leader Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner said on Dec. 22 that she has thyroid cancer. The disease was discovered during routine medical tests, but it is thought she has a good chance of survival.