Chavez returns to Venezuela from Cuba after chemo
By JORGE RUEDA
Associated Press
CARACAS, Venezuela -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said he soldiered
through his first week of chemotherapy in Cuba with only minor
discomfort but that a long process of additional treatment lies ahead as
he confronts cancer.
Chavez, 56, made an unannounced return to Venezuela late Saturday after
spending a week in Cuba undergoing treatment. He strode away from the
plane down a red carpet while troops stood at attention.
"This body of mine, of a cadet and a soldier, held up," Chavez said on
television after his arrival, adding that he had "some small discomfort."
"It's a hard treatment. It finished yesterday. Today a little bit of
rest and here we are," he said. Chavez said he is ready to "continue the
battle."
State television broadcast footage of Chavez being greeted at the
airport by Vice President Elias Jaua and other ministers.
Chavez said the chemotherapy in the past week went well but that risks
remain and he expects his treatments to continue for an extended period.
He did not say how long.
"It's important that the Venezuelan people don't believe that everything
is done," Chavez said. "We're in a complete process of fighting very
hard, and it takes its time. We're winning it and we'll win it, but it
takes its time and its rhythms."
The president underwent surgery in Cuba on June 20 to remove a cancerous
tumor, which he said was the size of a baseball. He hasn't said what
type of cancer he has been diagnosed with or specified where exactly it
was located, saying only that it was in his pelvic region. He says
chemotherapy is necessary to ensure cancer cells don't reappear.
Chavez said that a day after he arrived in Cuba on July 16, he underwent
"intense studies that they call medical imaging." He said 126 images
showed that "no presence of malignant cells was detected in any part of
my body."
"In any case the risk exists," Chavez added. "For that reason the
chemotherapy, which was given to me the whole week in various sessions."
Chavez said Friday that he had successfully completed a "first cycle" of
chemotherapy and will next begin the second of various additional
stages. He did not say when the next series of chemotherapy treatments
would begin.
Chavez said Fidel Castro, who has been at his side throughout much of
his treatment, had suggested that the Venezuelan leader closely follow
his doctors' orders and be conscious that his health is still at risk.
Chavez said that "for my complete return, I should be disciplined."
During the past week in Cuba, Chavez was largely out of the public eye
but kept up a steady stream of messages on his Twitter account, ranging
from government announcements to cheering for the national soccer team.
While in Cuba during the past week, Chavez also received visits by
Ecuador's president, Rafael Correa, and Argentine soccer legend Diego
Maradona.
Chavez said that before leaving Havana for Caracas on Saturday, he also
met with Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega.
Upon his arrival in Caracas on Saturday night, Chavez said: "I address
the country from my heart to express my immense happiness and gladness
to be in Venezuela after one week."
"Throughout this week, I haven't lost an instant in my attention to
Venezuela - what happens, the problems, the solutions," he said.
The leftist president, who has been in power since 1999, has said he
intends to run for re-election in late 2012 despite his illness.
"After this week of intense work in Cuba with a quality Venezuelan and
Cuban medical team, I should tell you... that I've come back better than
I left," he said.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/07/23/2328459/president-chavez-returns-to-venezuela.html
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