Caracas: President Hugo Chavez has sought to
assure Venezuelans he was healthy, telling them that cancer-fighting chemotherapy treatment has not left him with any debilitating side effects.
Chavez returned home to Venezuela just before midnight
Thursday following what he described as a fourth and hopefully
final round of chemotherapy in Cuba.
"My body feels healthy, and I thank God and all of you as
well as medical science, and what's even more important is that my soul feels revived, like it's been healed," Chavez said yesterday at a ceremony presided over by the country's youth minister and aired by state broadcaster VTV.
"I am in treatment, (with) drugs, but all vital signs are
good, things are progressing well. Fortunately, the
chemotherapy did not affect any organs and had no side
effects," he said.
Chavez, 57, had a tumor removed on June 20 in Havana, but
officials have provided little information about the type of
cancer afflicting the leftist president. Officials have said
the tumor was removed from his "pelvic area," but have given
no indication of the severity of his condition.
After returning to Caracas and giving a brief statement early Friday, he stayed uncharacteristically out of the media
spotlight and sent no messages on his Twitter feed, which has more than two million followers.
Official handout photos from Cuban state media showed a
hairless Chavez bidding farewell to Cuban leader Raul Castro
after completing the latest round of treatment.
PTI
First Published: Monday, September 26, 2011, 11:40