CARACAS (Reuters) – Political violence in Venezuela threatens to undermine the outcome of next year’s election whether President Hugo Chavez wins a new six-year term or not, an influential think-tank said on Wednesday.

Venezuela is already one of the world’s most dangerous countries, where the presence of organized crime gangs, police corruption, impunity and millions of firearms in civilian hands is a volatile mix.

CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela plans to free almost half its prisoners in response to overcrowding in its corrupt and violent penal system, but it risks making rampant crime worse and hurting President Hugo Chavez’s re-election bid.

The South American country’s prisons are in chaos, with nearly 50,000 inmates locked up in facilities designed for less than a third of that. Corruption is endemic, and heavily-armed inmates run many blocks by themselves.

CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela freed more than 2,000 inmates to improve conditions in its violent and overcrowded prisons at the start of what could be a much larger amnesty across the South American nation, state media said on Friday.

With about 50,000 prisoners confined to aging facilities designed to hold just 13,000, the penal system is in chaos, rights campaigners and government officials say.

CARACAS, Aug 2 (Reuters) – Uncertainty about the severity
of President Hugo Chavez’s cancer and falling oil output that
could slow an economic recovery are the main risks to watch in
the South American oil exporter ahead of elections in 2012.

HOW SICK IS CHAVEZ?

Chavez says malignant cells found in a tumor removed in
June have not spread and rejects claims he has colon or rectal
cancer. He has had a bout of chemotherapy and looks stronger
than he did a few weeks ago but faces more chemotherapy in Cuba
and he has shaved his head after his hair begun to fall out.

CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will seek another six-year term in an election next year despite recent surgery to remove a cancerous tumor, he told a state newspaper in an interview published late on Sunday.

News that the 56-year-old socialist leader underwent an operation last month in Havana to remove a baseball-sized tumor has called into question his long-term health and his fitness to continue governing the OPEC nation of 29 million people.

CARACAS (Reuters) – President Hugo Chavez returned to Venezuela on Saturday a week after leaving for chemotherapy in Cuba, saying no malignant cells were found and that he was arriving home in better health than when he left.

News that the 56-year-old socialist leader underwent surgery in Havana last month to remove a baseball-sized cancerous tumor has called into question his fitness to run for re-election next year in the OPEC nation.

CARACAS (Reuters) – There is no doubt Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will run for re-election next year despite returning to Cuba for more treatment after cancer surgery, the OPEC nation’s finance minister said on Monday.

The announcement by the 56-year-old socialist leader that he had an operation in Havana last month to remove a baseball-sized tumor has rocked the political situation in South America’s biggest oil exporter.

CARACAS (Reuters) – There is “no doubt” Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will run for re-election next year despite returning to Cuba for more treatment after cancer surgery, the OPEC-member nation’s finance minister said on Monday.

The political situation in South America’s biggest oil exporter has been rocked by Chavez’s announcement that he had an operation in Havana last month to remove a baseball-sized tumor.

CARACAS (Reuters) – President Hugo Chavez alternated between soccer and affairs of state on Saturday in a return to Venezuela’s airwaves after undergoing cancer surgery in Cuba.

The 56-year-old socialist leader had an operation in Havana last month to remove a cancerous tumor, prompting doubts about his health and fitness to stand for re-election next year in the OPEC nation of 29 million people.

CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela’s convalescing President Hugo Chavez dismissed rumors of a reshuffle on Thursday and kept all his ministers in their jobs, thanking them for their work while he underwent cancer surgery in Cuba.

The 56-year-old also said the personnel of his military high command would remain the same. Local media had speculated he might reshuffle his cabinet this week after returning from an operation that raised questions about his long term health.