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Chavez said Saturday that he has undergone tests following his latest cancer treatment and everything came out well. Whether his illness would limit his ability to campaign has been a subject of speculation in Venezuela in recent weeks. Luis Vicente Leon, who heads the Venezuelan polling firm Datanalisis, said the socialist leader has managed his illness in a secretive and clever manner that has allowed him to benefit politically, preventing many Venezuelans from believing "it's a deadly illness that will impede Chavez's future." As the vote nears, though, Chavez will likely have to adjust his strategy and show he is well enough to campaign in order to avoid negative ideas about his health, Leon said. For Capriles, one of his strong points against Chavez has been his relative energy. Supporters of the 39-year-old opposition leader have begun buying T-shirts with a new name for him, "The Skinny Guy President," in contrast to Chavez's burly build. But Chavez's backers at Monday's rally played down the opposition leader's appeal. "Capriles can jog all he wants. That's not going to convince people that he's capable of governing the country," said Rosa Morales, a 58-year-old housewife who praised Chavez's government for recently giving her family an apartment in a newly built housing project, allowing them to move out of a dilapidated shelter clinging to a hillside slum. "Chavez, on the other hand, has been an excellent head of state -- even being ill
-- and that's not going to change," she said.
[Associated
Press;
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