Chavez is sick but his merchandise is selling like hot cakes
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Statuettes depicting Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez are seen on display at a shop in Caracas on Jan 7, 2012. -- PHOTO: AFP
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Earrings with the image of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez are displayed at a store in Caracas, on Jan 3, 2013. Top Venezuelan officials returned to Venezuela after visiting cancer-stricken President Hugo Chavez in Cuba, who keeps "battling" for his health, said Maduro. -- PHOTO : AFP
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Watches with images of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez are seen on display at a shop in Caracas on Jan 7, 2013. -- PHOTO : AFP
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A man looks at a calendar with the image of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez at a store in Caracas, on Jan 3, 2013. Top Venezuelan officials returned to Venezuela after visiting cancer-stricken President Hugo Chavez in Cuba, who keeps "battling" for his health, said Maduro. -- PHOTO : AFP
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A man shows a T-shirt with the image of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez at a store in Caracas, on Jan 3, 2013. Top Venezuelan officials returned to Venezuela after visiting cancer-stricken President Hugo Chavez in Cuba, who keeps "battling" for his health, said Maduro. -- PHOTO : AFP
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A man looks on next to statuettes depicting Hispanic American independence hero Simon Bolivar (left), Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez (second left, right, second right), Cuban leader Fidel Castro (third left) and Argentine-born revolutionary leader Ernesto "Che" Guevara (third right) in Caracas, on Jan 3, 2013. Top Venezuelan officials returned to Venezuela after visiting cancer-stricken President Hugo Chavez in Cuba, who keeps "battling" for his health, said Maduro. -- PHOTO : AFP
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A woman shops a ring with an image of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, in Caracas on Jan 7, 2013. -- PHOTO : AFP
Statuettes depicting Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez are seen on display at a shop in Caracas on Jan 7, 2012. -- PHOTO: AFP
Earrings with the image of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez are displayed at a store in Caracas, on Jan 3, 2013. Top Venezuelan officials returned to Venezuela after visiting cancer-stricken President Hugo Chavez in Cuba, who keeps "battling" for his health, said Maduro. -- PHOTO : AFP
Watches with images of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez are seen on display at a shop in Caracas on Jan 7, 2013. -- PHOTO : AFP
A man looks at a calendar with the image of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez at a store in Caracas, on Jan 3, 2013. Top Venezuelan officials returned to Venezuela after visiting cancer-stricken President Hugo Chavez in Cuba, who keeps "battling" for his health, said Maduro. -- PHOTO : AFP
A man shows a T-shirt with the image of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez at a store in Caracas, on Jan 3, 2013. Top Venezuelan officials returned to Venezuela after visiting cancer-stricken President Hugo Chavez in Cuba, who keeps "battling" for his health, said Maduro. -- PHOTO : AFP
A man looks on next to statuettes depicting Hispanic American independence hero Simon Bolivar (left), Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez (second left, right, second right), Cuban leader Fidel Castro (third left) and Argentine-born revolutionary leader Ernesto "Che" Guevara (third right) in Caracas, on Jan 3, 2013. Top Venezuelan officials returned to Venezuela after visiting cancer-stricken President Hugo Chavez in Cuba, who keeps "battling" for his health, said Maduro. -- PHOTO : AFP
A woman shops a ring with an image of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, in Caracas on Jan 7, 2013. -- PHOTO : AFP
CARACAS (AFP) - Mr Hugo Chavez is so sick with cancer that he won't show up for his own inauguration for a new term this week. But the cottage industry that lives off Chavez merchandising is quite healthy.
You name it, and the bombastic Comandante's face can be found all over it: T-shirts, baseball hats, jackets, earrings and much, much more.
In a small market in central Caracas not far from the National Assembly, Ms Elisa Flores de Moreno says she has traveled from Merida in far western Venezuela - sent by colleagues to stock up on Chavez gear as the country waits to see if he will pull through his fourth round of cancer surgery.
The 58-year-old Mr Chavez, who was first diagnosed in mid-2011, underwent his latest operation on Dec 11 in Havana and has not been seen in public since.
