Chavez undergoes cancer tests in Cuba

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez underwent medical tests Saturday in Havana, where he is scheduled for surgery to remove a lesion in the same pelvic area where a cancerous tumour was cut out in 2011. "Here we are full of faith and hope... that everything will be fine," Chavez said on local television broadcasts shortly after arriving in Havana.
He arrived smiling at the Havana airport, where he was received by Cuban President Raul Castro "in whose embrace of welcome came also that of all Cubans," said a report in the official Cuban newspaper Granma. Last October, the 57-year-old leader declared himself to be cancer-free. But on Tuesday Chavez said, "Nobody can say right now that it is another malignant tumour," but "the likelihood that it is malignant is greater than that it is not."
The Venezuelan president said a one-inch lesion was discovered during medical testing last week, but he denied that cancer had spread to other parts of his body. At the international airport outside Caracas before leaving for Havana Friday, Chavez said, "I promise that I will fight hard over the next few hours" and that "we shall overcome this new challenge."
The probable return of Chavez's cancer has cast doubt over his bid to be re-elected on October 7, in what is likely to be the most closely contested presidential election in years. Chavez, a leftist firebrand, faces a strong challenge from 39-year-old Henrique Capriles, who was chosen as the sole opposition candidate in a primary earlier this month.
Chavez could still appoint a successor to run in his place, delay the October vote, or soldier on and focus the campaign on his left-wing legacy. Opposition legislators asked that Chavez delegate powers to Vice President Elias Jaua during his absence, but the pro-government majority in the National Assembly rejected the request.
The president was accompanied to Cuba by his brother Adan, who is governor of the Venezuelan state of Barinas, as well as the country's foreign minister and the minister of health. Chavez announced Saturday that Venezuelan Health Minister Eugenia Sader would be his spokeswoman while he undergoes surgery and treatment in Havana.
During his stay in Cuba last summer, he received three of his four rounds of chemotherapy and attended several meetings with Raul Castro and his older brother, the revolutionary icon Fidel Castro. Chavez's health is a significant issue for Cuba.