Caracas, Jul 17, 2011 (Prensa Latina) Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is in Cuba to begin the second stage of his medical treatment and recovery from surgery for a cancerous tumor, including chemotherapy that he described as preventive.

Various rumors about oncological conditions and the supposed worsening of his health were ruled out by Chavez in Caracas before he flew to Cuba on Saturday.

The chemotherapy is a preventive action to ward off the reproduction of malignant cells, he said.

“I will return in better condition, more alive and stronger,” Chavez told supporters at a sendoff at Miraflores Palace.

Well-wishers at the event included top leaders and musical performances, and supporters later lined the streets to greet the presidential motorcade on its way to the airport.

Chavez begins this stage of his treatment after a satisfactory evolution following a June 20 operation of more than six hours to extract a tumor from the same part of his body which required surgery 10 days earlier for a pelvic abscess in Havana, as he was ending a tour of Latin America in Cuba.

The Venezuelan president announced he would closely follow events in Venezuela during his stay in Cuba, and can use his electronic signature to continue the full exercise of his constitutionally-mandated duties.

He delegated some authorities to Executive Vice President Elias Jaua and Planning and Finance Minister Jorge Giordani.

While opposition members of the National Assembly used terms such as “vacuum of power,” and “absolute absence,” and insisted on a delegation of power, they authorized the president's travel to Havana in the end.

A permanent grassroots mobilization to back the president and his administration, with the support of the seven-million-strong United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), together with civilian-military unity, assure stability in this country.

“The people, government and armed forces are one; that is one of our strengths in terms of Comandante Chavez and the Bolivarian project,” Defense Minister Carlos Mata told Prensa Latina on July 4, during the welcome-home ceremony for Chavez following his surgery in Cuba.

Source: Prensa Latina