• Submitted by: manso
• International
• 08 / 12 / 2011

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Thu Aug 11, 2011 5:56pm GMT. CARACAS Aug 11 (Reuters) - President Hugo Chavez told Venezuelans on Thursday he was reacting well to a second round of chemotherapy in Cuba and believed he was winning his battle against cancer.

The socialist leader broke the news in June that he was ill, raising doubts about his ability to campaign ahead of a 2012 presidential election that he has vowed to win.

In a telephone call to state television from his hospital bed in Havana, the 57-year-old said he would finish this session of treatment on Friday but gave no date for his return home.

"I'm taking well to the treatment, which began Monday and should finish on Friday," he said.

"I feel good. I'm receiving the corresponding dosage of chemotherapy in this battle that we're winning and will win."

Chavez had surgery in Cuba to remove a baseball-sized tumor and has been undergoing treatment in the communist-led island as a guest of his close friend and mentor Fidel Castro.

He has said his doctors believe there are no malignant cells in his body, but that he may need more chemotherapy. Chavez has not said exactly what type of cancer he has.

Absent from the airwaves and Twitter since Tuesday, he interrupted a program on Thursday in which the health minister was promoting a new high-tech medical laboratory, a sign he wants to assure the country he is able to continue governing, albeit from afar.

He spoke for a few minutes only, saying he had "little time" but managed a jab at the United States for slashing social spending to reduce its deficit.

Source. http://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFN1E77A16M20110811