President Chavez returns to Venezuela after surgery

President Chavez returns to Venezuela after surgery

2011-07-04 22:05:01 GMT+7 (ICT)

CARACAS, VENEZUELA (BNO NEWS) -- President Hugo Chavez on Monday returned to Venezuela after a cancerous tumor had been surgically removed from his body by medical experts in Cuba, the state-run AVN news agency reported.

The Venezuelan leader will continue his rehabilitation process in Caracas. He arrived on early Monday and was greeted at the Maiquetia airport by Vice President Elias Jaua along several ministers and government officials.

"I am here at home and very happy! Good morning my Venezuela! Good morning my beloved people! This is the beginning of the return," wrote Chavez on his twitter account upon his arrival.

Chavez was on a three-country tour that included Brazil, Cuba and Ecuador when doctors detected a tumor with cancerous cells in his pelvic area during his planned medical checkups in La Havana.

"I admit that from a medical standpoint, I was only planning to check by left knee, which has almost recovered from that injury I suffered in May," the Venezuelan leader said last week.

On June 11, an initial surgery was carried out to drain his pelvic area and begin an antibiotic treatment. However, undetected cells were discovered and a second operation was necessary to remove a cancerous tumor.

On Wednesday, the Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Ministry postponed the 3rd Summit of Latin America and the Caribbean on Integration and Development (CALC) due to Chavez's medical issues.

The summit was scheduled to take place on July 5-6 in Margarita Island, northern Venezuela. The decision was previously consulted with the participating nations and it will be re-scheduled at a later date during the second quarter of the year.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-07-04