Venezuela VP: Chavez's cancer was an 'attack' by his enemies - World News

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Venezuelan Vice-President Nicolas Maduro (L) speaking at a meeting on Venezuela's political future in Caracas on March 5, 2013, in a picture provided by the government press office.

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By Tracy Connor, Staff Writer, NBC News

Venezuela’s vice president claimed Tuesday that President Hugo Chavez's enemies gave him cancer, as two U.S. diplomats were expelled for an alleged plot to destabilize the government.

The double whammy of conspiracy theories was unveiled as Chavez faced his "most difficult hours" since he was diagnosed with a tumor in his pelvis almost two years ago, officials said.

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"There's no doubt that Commandante Chavez's health came under attack by the enemy," Vice President Nicolas Maduro said in an address to the nation from the presidential palace.

"The old enemies of our fatherland looked for a way to harm his health,'' according to Maduro, drawing a parallel to the illness and 2004 death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, which some supporters blamed on poisoning by Israeli agents.

He said a special commission would investigate how Chavez, 58, ended up with the cancer that has left him clinging to life in a Caracas military hospital after months of chemotherapy and radiation and four surgeries.

The allegation was made against a backdrop of diplomatic maneuvering, with Caracas announcing that two American Air Force attachés had been given 24 hours to leave the country.

Maduro accused one of them, David del Monaco, of spying and meeting with Venezuelan military officials for nefarious purposes. The expulsion of the second, Devlin Costal, was announced soon after.

A Pentagon spokesman told the Associated Press they were aware of the allegations but did not issue a response.

In 2008, Chavez expelled the American ambassador, claiming the U.S. was orchestrating a military coup, and he has repeatedly claimed to be the target of assassination plots.

Chavez has not been seen in public since his last surgery, Dec. 11, in Havana. He returned to Venezuela in February. Officials say he has been battling stubborn respiratory infections.

Though he handily won a fourth term, Chavez's health problems have prevented him from being sworn into office in January. The opposition has demanded he step down and pave the way for new elections.

His turn for the worse led some loyalists, known as "Chavistas," to take to the streets to blow whistles and horns, while others wept or prayed in the hospital chapel.

"There is so much sadness and confusion," Marisol Aponte, a community worker in the city's slums, told Reuters. "But we must be strong and put into practice all he has taught us."

Maduro said the government will issue a communiqué later today with an update on Chavez's condition.

NBC News' Havana bureau chief Mary Murray, the Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report