Venezuela's Chavez needs another operation

[Zorro]

Venezuela's Hugo Chavez will undergo another operation in Cuba in the coming days after doctors found a possibly malignant lesion in his pelvis where surgeons removed a large cancerous tumor last year, he said on Tuesday.

The 57-year-old socialist president confirmed he traveled to Havana for the tests on Saturday. Rumors of the unannounced trip had prompted a flood of speculation among the opposition and supporters alike that he was at death's door.

Chavez's health is the wildcard ahead of an October 7 presidential election, when he will seek a new six-year term. He has never given many details about his condition so the news he needs more surgery was bound to fuel doubts about his recovery.

"There is no metastasis, just this small lesion in the same place where they removed the tumor," the president said during a televised tour of a factory in his home state of Barinas.

More at: http://news.yahoo.com/venezuelas-chavez-needs-another-operation-005118328.html

[pa28]

1. Best wishes to President Chavez.

I hope he makes a full recovery in the shortest possible time.

[Bacchus4.0]

2. Venezuela's Chavez says his cancer is likely back

http://news.yahoo.com/venezuelas-chavez-says-cancer-likely-back-071810405.html;_ylt=Akit4uyef6X3t0cGmcZQAY5vaA8F;_ylu=X3oDMTNlYWl0czZoBG1pdAMEcGtnA2VhY2Q5ZmFmLTFkNWEtM2UyMC1iMGFkLTYwYjFlMTc5NTliZQRwb3MDMTgEc2VjA2xuX0xhdEFtX2dhbAR2ZXIDODVjMWZjMjAtNWQzOC0xMWUxLThmZWYtM2VhOTk1YzdkODg0;_ylv=3

President Hugo Chavez has raised serious doubts about whether he'll have the stamina for a successful re-election bid, revealing that he needs to return to Cuba to have a lesion removed that is probably malignant.

Chavez told Venezuelans on Tuesday that doctors in Cuba had over the weekend found a two-centimeter (less than an inch) lesion in the same place where they removed a cancerous tumor last year.

The socialist president, who hopes to extend his 13 years in power with another six-year term in the Oct. 7 elections, said the probability is high that the lesion is malignant and that he will likely need radiation therapy.

That will most likely mean being incapacitated in the coming weeks, though Chavez did not mention who might replace him during a temporary absence.

[jhasp]

3. It's not about revolution, it's about ego.

If a presidential hopeful in the US was facing a second round of cancer, they would likely drop out because it's difficult to be a chief executive and receive cancer treatments at the same time. Why won't Chavez just name a successor to continue the revolution? Because it's about his ego, not about revolution.