El Salvador's Sanchez Ceren going down the road of Venezuela's Chavez

It looks as if Salvadoran President Salvador Sanchez Ceren is looking to fill the shoes of the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Salvadoran President Salvador Sanchez Ceren traveled to Cuba for "his periodic medical checkup" after suffering health problems on Monday in Mexico, the Salvadoran government said Wednesday.

"Sanchez Ceren, after suffering a slight decompensation in his health, which we will report in good time, on the recommendation of his medical team traveled to Havana, Cuba, with the aim of moving up his periodic medical checkup, which is being conducted ... normally," the Governability and Communications Secretariat said in a brief statement.

Salvadorans are six months into their new government and while this may turn out to be nothing, Sanchez Ceren's abrupt travel to Havana to check up on his medical condition can not be encouraging. There is nothing ordinary about leaving a meeting in Mexico unexpectedly after feeling sick and then leaving your foreign minister in charge. Mauricio Funes also disappeared for medical reasons during his presidency.

During the campaign, the 70-year old Sanchez Ceren was always seen with a Cuban doctor by his side. Maybe I am being a bit ageist, but the full-time demands of the presidency are not a young man's game.