Venezuelan president goes on television to say, 'I will live, I will overcome,' after operation in Havana
Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez confirmed he had suffered a recurrence of cancer, saying he would need radiotherapy treatment after the removal of another tumour.
"I will live! I will overcome!" the 57-year-old socialist leader said in a televised meeting with cabinet colleagues from Cuba, where he underwent surgery six days ago.
Chavez's comments about his health came at the end of a 90-minute address to Venezuelans, shown on live TV, in which he expressed confidence in his recovery, told jokes, signed state papers and even broke into song.
He is seeking to extend his 13-year rule at a presidential election in October, but his health problems have raised doubts about his capacity to campaign for the presidency or to rule for another six-year term.
In his comments from Havana, which were broadcast on Sunday but recorded on Saturday, Chávez said: "We are all human, we are all extinguishable, more so with the life I have had, where one year seems like a hundred."
He gave no word on when he would return to Venezuela.
He scoffed at "speculators with nothing better to do'', who had suggested his cancer had spread to other organs.
A 2cm tumour had been successfully removed from the same pelvic area where a larger tumour was taken out last year, Chávez said. "This time the recovery is much quicker." Radiotherapy would, however, be needed.