Venezuela's Chavez to visit Brazil, Ecuador, Cuba

CARACAS: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez appeared in public Tuesday after several weeks nursing a bad knee, and immediately announced trips to Brazil, Ecuador and Cuba for next week.

"I'm fine, my knee is well on its way to recovery," Chavez told official VTV television news, surrounded by his cabinet ministers.

Chavez said he has been resting since May 9, when his injury forced him to postpone trips to the three Latin American countries.

For the past three weeks Chavez's presence has been limited to sending commentary on Venezuelan an international affairs via his Twitter microblogging account.

The sole exception was his appearance on the 12 year anniversary show of his television talk program "Alo, Presidente." He appeared for a mere hour, when he normally spends six hours on average on the show.

Chavez said he will be in Brasilia to meet President Dilma Rousseff on June 6, visit the Ecuadoran president the following day, then travel to Cuba.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011