CARACAS, Venezuela — Amid a heated national debate over the state of the health of President Hugo Chávez, the Venezuelan government on Friday released photographs of him for the first time since his cancer surgery in Cuba more than nine weeks ago.
Officials also provided a rare glimpse into the sequestered world of the convalescing leader, saying he has difficulty breathing and speaking but writes notes to aides while making all government decisions. Sometimes, there is music in his hospital room and it is like a party, one official said.
The four photographs released by the government show Mr. Chávez lying in bed and smiling, with two of his daughters, Rosa Virginia and María Gabriela, on either side.
Jorge Arreaza, the minister of science and technology, who is married to María Gabriela, said the pictures were taken Thursday. In three of the them, Mr. Chávez is holding a copy of what Mr. Arreaza said was Thursday’s edition of the Cuban newspaper Granma.
“There he is with his family, always attentive to the people of Venezuela, always attentive and in charge of his functions, working tirelessly,” Mr. Arreaza said.
The Venezuelan information minister, Ernesto Villegas, said that doctors had controlled a severe lung infection, but added that the president was breathing with a “tracheal tube,” making speech difficult.
In the photographs, Mr. Chávez wore what appeared to be a white and blue jacket, which covered his throat. No tube was visible.
Mr. Chávez, 58, has had four cancer operations in Cuba since June 2011. The latest was on Dec. 11. But in contrast to his previous absences from the country, Mr. Chávez has remained out of sight and has not even telephoned a government television program, which he often did before. That has led to widespread speculation about the severity of his illness, especially after he could not return from Cuba in time to be sworn in for the start of his new term on Jan. 10.
Government officials have repeatedly insisted that Mr. Chávez is continuing to run the government from his hospital bed in Havana, but the political opposition has long challenged that assertion, questioning how he could manage the country but be too sick to communicate with the public directly.
As Mr. Chávez’s absence has dragged on, the opposition has consistently demanded that the government provide proof that he is well enough to lead the nation. Some have even questioned whether he was still alive.
On Friday, an opposition leader, Henrique Capriles, posted on Twitter: “A few days ago, the liars said they talked with the Pdt., now they say he can’t talk! They make fun of their own people.”
Mr. Arreaza said later in a television interview that Mr. Chávez “does not have his characteristic voice” and sometimes writes notes when meeting with aides.
“He has difficulty expressing himself verbally,” Mr. Arreaza said. “Nevertheless, he makes himself understood. We are with him. You have to pay attention, and he perfectly communicates his decisions.”
Mr. Arreaza said in Spanish that Mr. Chávez was undergoing “palliative treatments,” which he described as strong and hard. He did not say what those treatments were but did say that Mr. Chávez had undergone the same treatments previously in the course of his illness. He has had both chemotherapy and radiation since his cancer was diagnosed.
In its Spanish definition, the word “palliative” refers especially to treatments used to relieve pain or slow the progress of an incurable disease. Mr. Villegas, the information minister, described Mr. Chávez on Friday as being in “delicate circumstances.”
Mr. Arreaza said that Mr. Chávez was keeping his spirits up. “There are days in which the commander practically has a party there in his room,” he said, “with his music from his beloved plains and with jokes and laughter.”
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Venezuela Releases First Pictures of Chávez
