CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said he’s flying to Cuba to begin radiation therapy on Sunday, one month after undergoing surgery that removed a cancerous tumor.
The Venezuelan leader has been recovering after his Feb. 26 surgery in Cuba, which removed a tumor from the same spot in his pelvic region where another tumor was extracted eight months earlier.
“Tonight, I’m leaving for Havana,” Chavez said in a televised meeting with aides Saturday. “I’ve decided, on the recommendation of my team and also my government political team, to begin now, as we’re going to begin on Sunday, radiation therapy treatment.”
Chavez described it as a “complement to the surgery that I underwent” last month.
The 57-year-old president has not identified the type of cancer nor the location in his pelvic region where the tumors have been removed.
Chavez is running for re-election in October and vows that his illness will not get in the way of that political goal.
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