Chavez confirms his cancer has returned

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez admitted publicly for the first time Sunday that his cancer had returned and said he faces a new round of radiotherapy treatment after having a second malignant tumor removed in Cuba.

"The tumor was completely removed and what we assumed was confirmed: It's a recurrence of the cancer I was originally diagnosed with," Chavez, who is facing a tough reelection battle later this year, said on state television.

Chavez, 57, underwent surgery in Havana last week for what he had called a "lesion" -- it was removed from the same area, around the pelvis, where a first tumor was extracted in June 2011.

After the initial surgery and chemotherapy, the firebrand Venezuelan leader had declared himself cancer-free.

Chavez said Sunday that the new tumor measured about two centimeters in length -- much smaller than the earlier one, which he described as being "about the size of a baseball."

This new health setback not only throws Venezuela into turmoil, but could have implications around the region, as people here confront the possibility that the man who arguably is Latin America's dominant figure, may be forced, even temporarily, to cede the public stage.

Chavez has been in Cuba for medical treatment since February 24, and no date has been announced for his return to Venezuela.

Officials in Caracas have never specified the kind of cancer the leftist president is suffering from, but they have denied the disease has spread to other organs, as many observers suspect.

Chavez expressed relief over "the absence of (additional) lesions" in the affected area and the nearby organs, which he said suggested that the cancer had not traveled throughout his body.

"No spreading, no metastasis, no lymph nodes -- none of that, thank God," he said. "That's the reason why we are so optimistic in this fight."

Chavez, who has been in power since 1999, first announced last summer that he had cancer shocking this oil-exporting nation, which long had been convinced of the invincibility of their leader.

He remains popular especially among Venezuela's poor and also is the inspiration for legions of loyal supporters long considered Chavez quasi-invincible and indispensable for the "socialist revolution" of South America's largest oil-producing country.

He also has served as the unofficial mentor of several left-leaning governments in the region.

Re-elected three times since 1998, Chavez survived a coup attempt in 2002, made a habit of staring down its powerful nemesis the United States and consorting with Cuba, shunned by many other countries in the region.

His cancer has upended the country's political scene. Uncertainty over the president's future hits pro-Chavez forces, who fear they will be leaderless, as much as the country's anti-Chavez faction, which had made opposing the president and his policies the focus of its politics.

Chavez faces a strong challenge in October elections from 39-year-old Henrique Capriles, who was chosen as the sole candidate to run against him by a unified opposition and who could be further strengthened by the president's medical problems.

The Venezuelan leader appeared to be in good spirits during Sunday's broadcast, in which he is show alongside his foreign minister Nicolas Maduro and other officials from his government, as well as his sister Rosa and his brother older Adan Chavez, governor of Venezuela's Barinas state.

He said it could be weeks before he begins a new round of radiation treatment because he must wait for his surgical incisions to heal and said that other complementary treatment options" had not been ruled out.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/chavez-cancer-returned-more-treatment-needed-173842507.html

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