AFP/Caracas
Shamans from tribes in Venezuela’s Amazon jungle held a ceremony at the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas on Saturday to help Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez recover from his cancer treatment.
An indigenous woman puts a feather adornment on Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, during a ritual ceremony at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas yesterday. Indigenous people from the Yekuana, Jivi and Wayuu ethnic groups took part in the shamanic healing rituals for Chavez’s health
Chavez, who insists that he was “not sick but recovering” from cancer, greeted the shamans wearing a track suit in the colours of the Venezuelan national flag and wore a crown of feathers the visitors gave him.
Members of the Yekuana, Jivi and Wayuu communities danced, sang and prayed as they invoked their ancestors to protect the Venezuelan leader.
The ritual was aimed at protecting Chavez “against enemies and bad health,” said Miguel Morales, a shaman from the Jivi community.
It also serves “so that he is left in peace, politically,” he said.
“We came from far away, from the (southern) state of Amazonas, to bless him,” Morales said.
Chavez thanked the shamans for the crown of feathers. “I consider it sacred and will keep it for my whole life,” Chavez told them.
“The cancer was removed,” said Chavez, 57.
Chavez underwent surgery in Cuba in June to remove a tumour in his pelvic area. He has offered little information on his cancer, for which he underwent chemotherapy in Cuba in July and August. A third round of chemo was done in Caracas last week.
Since the operation Chavez has limited his public appearances, lost weight and lost most of his hair from his cancer treatment.
The leftist populist leader on Wednesday vowed to be fully recovered by December to compete in the 2012 presidential election.
