Chavez admits cancer has returned

CARACAS - Agence France-Presse

Former Cuban President Castro (L) visits Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez, who is recovering from surgery, in Havana March 2. REUTERS photo

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on March 4 admitted publicly for the first time that his cancer had returned and 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. The 57-year-old 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 leader had declared himself cancer-free. Chavez, who has been in Cuba for treatment since Feb. 24, said March 4 that the new tumor was about two centimeters in length, which he described as being “about the size of a baseball.” No date has been announced for his return to Venezuela.