Venezuelan Vice President Nicolas Maduro claimed Tuesday that President Hugo Chavez's cancer was the result of an "attack" by his enemies and announced a commission to investigate.
The bizarre allegation came as Maduro announced that an American diplomat will be expelled for allegedly spying and meeting with military officers in a bid to destabilize the South American nation.
A U.S. embassy spokesman told the Associated Press that Washington was drawing up a response to the allegations about Air Force attaché David del Monaco, who was given 24 hours to get out of Venezuela.
Conspiracy theories have been a hallmark of Chavez's 14-year rule. In 2008, he expelled the American ambassador, claiming the U.S. was orchestrating a military coup. Chavez has repeatedly claimed to uncover assassination plots.
As his vice president delivered an address to the nation from the presidential palace, Chavez was clinging to life, his condition described as "very delicate." The four-term president has had four surgeries for an unnamed cancer in his pelvic region and has been battling respiratory infections since a Dec. 11 operation.
Maduro said it was no accident that the 58-year-old former paratrooper had fallen ill.
"There's no doubt that Commandante Chavez's health came under attack by the enemy," he said.
http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/05/17196733-venezuela-vp-chavezs-cancer-was-an-attack-by-his-enemies?liteI bet it was aliens who did it
