Hugo Chávez Near Death, Battles For Life Amid 'Respiratory Insufficiency': Will He Survive?

Hugo Chávez is near death as he battles for his life following his fourth operation in Cuba, according to reports.

Venezuela's vice president and Chávez's self-appointed successor Nicolás Maduro said Thursday that Hugo Chávez "is battling there for his health, for his life, and we're accompanying him." Still, a recent Feb. 11 poll of 1,198 people said that nearly 58 percent of Venezuelans believe Chávez will recover and return to power while about 30 percent believe he will not return to power and 12.5 percent say they don't know what will happen. One percent, meanwhile, believe Chávez was never sick.

The 58-year-old Chávez hasn't spoken or been seen since before his fourth operation in Cuba on Dec. 11 for an unspecified cancer in the pelvic area; however, the Venezuelan government said he returned on Feb. 18 and is at a military hospital in Caracas for continued treatment for "respiratory insufficiency," breathing with the help of a tracheal tube after surviving a serious respiratory infection.

Despite doctors not involved in Chávez's treatment speculating his treatment is most likely palliative, designed only to make him more comfortable in his remaining days, many Venezuelans seemingly believe -- or want to believe -- that he is on the mend.

"The president's prolonged absence and his critical situation have not been converted into massive pessimism about his return," respected pollster Luís Vicente Leon tweeted Thursday.

Leon, who is chief of the Datanalisis polling firm, also said that he thought reports of government officials holding hours-long meetings with Chávez had contributed to many Venezuelans' belief that Chávez will return.

Some, on the other hand, don't necessarily believe that, as the poll found 44 percent think the government has failed to be transparent in discussing the Chávez's health.

Maduro called for Venezuelans to keep praying for Chávez and remain loyal to the socialist who has been president for more than 14 years.

"Do you know why Comandante Chávez neglected his health and has been battling [cancer] for nearly two years?" he said. "Because he completely surrendered body and soul and forgot all his obligations to himself in order to give himself to the homeland."

Chávez, who himself has previously acknowledged that he was neglecting his health in recent years by staying up late and consuming coffee often, has undergone surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation treatments since June 2011, when he first announced his cancer diagnosis. He hasn't specified the type of cancer or the exact location in his pelvic region where his tumors have been removed.

On Feb. 15, the Venezuelan government released four photos of Chávez lying in a bed in Havana, Cuba with his two daughters by his side. They were the only images of him published since early December.