A Venezuelan doctor, who forecast that President Hugo Chavez would die of cancer within two years, said he had left the country with his family after police visited his consultancy.
Salvador Navarrete, who attended to Mr. Chavez a decade ago, caused uproar in Venezuela with comments last weekend that the president had a serious cancer, known as sarcoma, in the pelvis.
However, Mr. Chavez's allies accused the doctor of “morbid” motives and “necrophilia”.
His prognosis was also contradicted by Mr. Chavez, who returned from tests in Cuba on Thursday, October 20, declaring that he was free of malignant cells.
Mr. Navarrete fled Venezuela after medical personnel informed him that police visited his office earlier this week, checking files and computers, while he was out.
In an open letter published by local media, Mr. Navarrete said he wanted to “show his face” and have a public discussion about Mr. Chavez’s health, but had felt obliged to leave to an undisclosed location given the furore.
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