From all reports that I've seen, it appears pretty likely that Hugo has metastatic prostate cancer, which is a very very bad thing in a man his age, with a very poor prognosis. Probably a high grade tumor to spread so rapidly, and there really is no effective treatment for the high grade metastatic tumors in men so young. It is also possible that his recent knee problem was a metastatic lesion to his femur.

It could be bladder or colon cancers in that area, but neither are treated with radiation -- only chemotherapy -- so prostate is the most likely. Moreover, he would look much sicker if he'd had a radical cystectomy. As far as the abscess, if there really was one, that can occur in bad cases of prostate cancer.

The usual routine for advanced stage prostate cancer would be castration, chemotherapy, and radiation to metastic lesions, including the pelvis as the lymph nodes would be positive.

The more I read on the situation down there, the more I am convinced that anarchy could ensue since Hugo kept all the power and has no viable successor. There is a good chance that the military could step in and take over.

The most concerned should be the Chinese, as Venezuela could turn more to Western countries for the assistance and technology needed to fix the destruction that Hugo has wrought, once a succession occurs. The Chinese need to scramble to lock up everything that they can.