Venezuela shows Chavez photos, says he has trouble speaking

Venezuela published the first photos of cancer-stricken Hugo Chavez since his surgery in Havana more than two months ago and said the socialist president was breathing through a tracheal tube and struggling to speak, Reuters reports.

The pictures showed the 58-year-old, smiling but with his face looking swollen, lying down in a hospital bed and flanked by his two daughters. In one, they were reading Thursday's edition of the Cuban state newspaper, Granma.

The photos were shown by Chavez's son-in-law, Science Minister Jorge Arreaza, who has been traveling between Havana and Caracas to be at the Venezuelan president's bedside.

He said Chavez - whose political identity is built around long-winded speeches, meandering talk shows and casual chatter with supporters - was having trouble talking.

"Chavez's smile is the smile of the children, of the mothers, the young, the soldiers and the men. It's the smile of the fatherland," said Diosdado Cabello, the powerful head of the National Assembly and an ex-army buddy of the president.

The normally loquacious Chavez's silence since his surgery has convinced many Venezuelans that his extraordinary 14 years in power could be coming to an end.