Hugo Chavez in hospital 'for kidney failure' - well, not according to Hugo

The report at the bottom of this page circulated on the Internet this afternoon. We sourced it from The Telegraph although it is unclear where it originated. However, the highlighted report directly below from BBC News is Hugo's response to the story:

Hugo Chavez denies media reports of health emergency

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has denied US media reports that he was rushed to hospital with kidney failure linked to his cancer treatment.

"I'm fine, I'm having my first coffee of the day," Mr Chavez, 57, told state TV by telephone.

Mr Chavez, who had a fourth and final round of chemotherapy last week, urged Venezuelans to ignore such rumours.

The Miami-based Nuevo Herald newspaper had quoted hospital sources as saying he was in a serious condition.

In a telephone interview with VTV, Mr Chavez said reports about his health were untrue.

"I ask the Venezuelan people to ignore these rumours. If anything happened, I'd be the first person to tell you about any difficulty," he said.

Rumours about his health were aimed at creating uncertainty, Mr Chavez said.

Mr Chavez said his treatment was going well and that he is finished with chemotherapy.

He had surgery in June to remove a tumour that was later confirmed as cancerous.

However, the exact nature and severity of his cancer have not not been disclosed.

There has been speculation about whether he will be well enough to stand for re-election but Mr Chavez has said he will run in the October 2012 presidential poll.

Mr Chavez has secured repeated election victories since he first won the presidency in 1998.

The Telegraph's report follows:

Hugo Chavez, who has been fighting cancer, was rushed to a military hospital for emergency care following kidney failure, according to reports.

The leftist, staunchly anti-US stalwart Chavez went into the Military Hospital in Caracas on Tuesday morning, the report on the newspaper's website said, citing anonymous sources with knowledge of the case.

"He was in fairly serious overall condition," a source told the Miami-based Spanish-language daily. "When he arrived, he was in quite serious shape and that is why he was brought in for emergency care."

Venezuela's Information Minister Andres Izarra appeared to deny the report in a posting on the micro-blogging website Twitter.

"Those who should be admitted are the journalists of the Nuevo Herald, except into a madhouse (instead of a hospital)," Izarra tweeted, without providing further details.

On Sunday, Chavez sought to assure Venezuelans he was healthy, telling them that cancer-fighting chemotherapy treatment has not left him with any debilitating side effects.

Chavez returned to Venezuela late last Thursday following what he described as a fourth and hopefully final round of chemotherapy in Cuba.

Chavez, 57, had a cancerous tumor removed on June 20 in Havana, but officials have provided little information about the nature of the disease.

Officials have said the tumor was removed from his "pelvic area," but have given no indication of the severity of his condition.

After returning to Caracas and giving a brief statement early Friday, he stayed uncharacteristically out of the media spotlight and sent no messages on his Twitter feed, which has more than two million followers.

Official handout photos from Cuban state media showed a hairless Chavez bidding farewell to Cuban leader Raul Castro after completing the latest round of treatment.

But the silence of a leader who has been omnipresent in Venezuelan public life revived the mystery surrounding his health, which only increased on Friday when a meeting between Chavez and his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad set for this weekend in Caracas was postponed indefinitely.

Chavez has been in power since 1999 and has said he would recover in time to win re-election by a "knock-out" in 2012.

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