Chavez confident about chemotherapy treatment

Updated: 2011-08-08 13:50

(Xinhua)

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HAVANA - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez voiced his confidence about the second phase of chemotherapy here on Sunday.

"Here in Havana, in complete diagnostic exams, with God's help, I will be fine and move on," he said via Twitter in the Cuban capital Havana.

The 57-year-old president returned to the island nation Saturday night to continue his cancer therapy. He was greeted by Cuban leader Raul Castro at Havana's international airport.

The treatment will begin on Sunday.

He will stay in Cuba for "several days, no more than a week", the president told a Venezuelan TV channel in the country's capital Caracas before leaving for Havana.

Chavez underwent a surgery in Cuba to remove a cancerous tumor in his pelvic area in June and received the first phase of chemotherapy in mid-July.

The president revealed the chemotherapy had caused hair loss and a decrease of his white blood cells and red blood cells, normal consequences of the therapy.

Since Chavez was diagnosed with cancer, speculations have arisen in the country about how sick the strongman is and whether he might withdraw from politics. But Chavez has insisted he will pursue another six-year term in 2012, when his current term ends.