Hugo Chávez returns to Venezuela after chemotherapy

• Associated Press
• guardian.co.uk,


Hugo Chávez is greeted by ministers and troops as he arrives in Venezuela after a week undergoing chemotherapy in Cuba. Photograph: AP

Hugo Chávez, said he has completed his first week of chemotherapy in Cuba with only minor discomfort, but a long process of treatment lies ahead as the Venezuelan president is treated for cancer.

Chávez, 56, made an unannounced return to Venezuela late on Saturday after undergoing treatment. He strode away from the plane down a red carpet while troops stood to attention.

"This body of mine, of a cadet and a soldier, held up," he 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 added.

State television broadcast footage of Chávez being greeted at the airport by the vice-president, Elías Jaua, and other ministers.

Chávez said the chemotherapy went well but risks remain and he expects his treatment to continue. He did not say for how long.

The president underwent surgery in Cuba on 20 June to remove a cancerous tumour, which he said was the size of a baseball. He has not said what type of cancer he has been diagnosed with, saying only that it was in his pelvic region. He said chemotherapy was necessary to ensure cancer cells don't reappear.

Chávez said that a day after he returned to Cuba on 16 July he underwent "intense studies that they call medical imaging". He said 126 images showed "no presence of malignant cells was detected in any part of my body".

"In any case the risk exists," the president continued. "For that reason the chemotherapy, which was given to me the whole week in various sessions."

Chávez said that he had successfully completed a "first cycle" of chemotherapy and will begin a second, but he did not say when.

During the past week in Cuba, Chávez was largely out of the public eye but kept up a steady stream of tweets, ranging from government announcements to cheering for the national football team in the Copa América tournament.

He also received visits from Ecuador's president, Rafael Correa, and Argentine football legend Diego Maradona. Chávez said that before leaving Havana for Caracas on Saturday, he also met with the Nicaraguan president, Daniel Ortega.

Chávez, who has been in power since 1999, has said he intends to stand for re-election in 2012 despite his illness.