(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)

BY HARUMENDHAH HELMY

ANCHOR ANA COMPAIN-ROMERO

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez hinted the U.S. might have given five current and former Latin American presidents... cancer.

Here’s Colombia’s NTN24 with Chávez’s comments, which he made earlier this week at a military event in Caracas.

“Hugo Chavez has long questioned whether the U.S. might be plotting to get rid of him.” (FLASH)  “I don’t want to launch any accusations, that would be rash, he said. Chavez maintains he’s not accusing the US, and he doesn’t have any proof. Would it be strange if they had developed a technology to induce cancer and nobody knew about it until now, said the president.”  

Chávez’s comments comes at the heel of the announcement that Argentinian President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner has been diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Chávez himself recently had surgery to remove a tumor from his pelvis.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, her predecessor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and Paraguay’s Fernando Lugo have also been diagnosed with cancer. (Images: Wikimedia Commons)

The Atlantic Wire is quick to call Chávez’s suggestion the U.S. may have had something to do with the cancer cases “nutty” -- saying it hurts his chance of ever being taken seriously.  

“… he really seems to dial up the Nut-O-Meter to 11 with this cancer conspiracy theory. ... Cancer ray guns from space? Carcinogenic handshakes? … It couldn't possibly have anything to do with those leaders' average age being 61. … What's odd is that this (and other) crazy claims from Chavez undermine any legitimate grievance Venezuela may have against the U.S.”

And CNN says — Chávez is a showman who wants to create a stir, and using anti-U.S. rhetoric is one of his regular routines.

Zain Verjee: “He is really good at that. Does anyone believe him? Unlikely. Is he grabbing headlines? Absolutely, yes he is.”

The Guardian highlights what seems to be Chavéz’s love-hate relationship with the United States -- economic love, that is, and political hate.

“While Venezuela's economy remains closely bound to the United States– the South American country exports more than 800,000 barrels of oil there each day – Chávez's colourful attacks on ... Washington have been a regular fixture of his presidency.”

And finally, Foreign Policy says Chávez isn’t the only Latin American leader who has bizarre suspicions about American operations — and perhaps, the U.S. only has itself to blame.

“In July, for example, Bolivian leader Evo Morales expressed concern that U.S. authorities would plant something on his presidential plane ... to link him with drug trafficking. … Given the CIA's history of intrigue in Latin America, it may not be particularly surprising that the region's leaders are sensitive to signs of U.S. meddling in their countries' internal affairs.”

Reuters points out -- in the speech Chavez said he was quote “just reflecting” -- and he wasn’t necessarily making any accusations.