With Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Frias set to start out on his long road to recovery following a six-hour surgical operation to combat a recurrence of cancer, his supporters and those who oppose him in Venezuela have intensified their debates about how Chavez’s health issues might affect the nation.

Last week, Chavez received official permission from the country’s National Assembly to fly back to Cuba for more surgery at the Center for Medical-Surgical Research. The president had to have his fourth operation in a year and a half on reoccurring malignant cancer cells in his pelvic area.

Chavez’s Tuesday, Dec. 11, operation was his third this year, and his fourth surgery in 18 months. He had had an operation in February to remove a tumor, and at that time, many believed he was cured. But when a further check-up determined that the president had another cancerous lesion, he wound up returning to Cuba for more chemotherapy treatments this past April 14.

This final operation lasted a long time and required six surgeons. “The bleeding suffered during the operation was controlled in a timely manner and the patient has responded favorably to medical care,” the government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela said in an official statement on Dec. 14. “Recovery of his general and vital conditions has been slow but progressive.”

But because he now will need time to recuperate, there is a possibility that Chavez will not be able to attend his fourth presidential inauguration, which is set for Jan. 10, 2013. Chavez was re-elected to another six-year presidential term this past Oct. 7; he first came to the presidency in 1999.

Opposition forces are noting that Venezuela’s constitution calls for the president to be sworn in by the National Assembly, and if that’s not possible, then by the Supreme Court. Either entity can swear the president in, but the ceremony must take place on Venezuelan soil. The president may still need to recuperate in Cuba, though. If Chavez dies or has to leave office for any reason, presidential elections would need to be called within 30 days.

With or without Chavez, many are questioning if his policies can continue if he is not available to direct them. One crucial example has already been seen via the results of the mayoral and gubernatorial elections that took place on Dec. 16. In a contest for 23 governorships across the nation, Chavez’s United Socialist Party of Venezuela-aligned candidates won 20. Opposition candidates now control only three states in Venezuela: so now, with or without Chavez, the national government can continue working with grassroots-level citizen councils to promote citizen welfare.

Chavez has been president of Venezuela since Feb. 2, 1999. His socialist-oriented administration has utilized Venezuela’s vast oil wealth to fund popular social programs–which are termed “Bolivarian Missions”–that provide free health care, education, food and housing subsidies, and other anti-poverty programs for a majority of the nation’s citizens. Chavez’s socialist programs have not made him popular with the nation’s traditional ruling classes and, in April of 2002, it led to an attempted coup against his administration.