HAVANA, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Venezuela's ailing President Hugo Chavez is recovering well from a cancer operation he underwent last December in Havana, media sources reported Monday, quoting Cuban former leader Fidel Castro.
"He is much better, recovering. It has been a hard fight, but he has been getting better. We have to cure him," Castro said Sunday at a polling station, where he went to vote in general elections. He is nominated as a deputy to Parliament.
Chavez "is very important to his country and to Latin America," the state daily Granma cited Castro as saying.
Castro stressed Chavez's key role in the region, adding that the Venezuelan leader was also "one of the main architects" of the fledgling regional bloc, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).
Chavez, 58, has been battling an unspecified type of cancer since first being diagnosed in June 2011, and underwent a fourth round of surgery on Dec. 11.
His prolonged absence from the public eye have fueled constant rumors about his state of health, including allegations from opponents that he was on life support.
Castro, who at 86 is often the subject of similar rumors, also talked of Cuba and his successor and brother Raul Castro's recent reforms.
"It is necessary to work on continually perfecting the country, it is a duty to modernize Cuba's socialist model, to modernize it, but without making mistakes," said Castro, who stepped down in 2006 due to health problems.
Last Sunday, general elections were held in Cuba to elect the 612 members of the National Assembly of People's Power and the 1, 269 delegates for 15 local assemblies.
According to preliminary figures from Cuba's National Electoral Council (CEN), more than 7,642,000 people voted, or 86.17 percent of all registered voters. The CEN said the full results will be announced later Monday.
CARACAS, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin Wednesday sent a letter of support to Venezuela's ailing President Hugo Chavez, describing him as a "true fighter."
"Throughout the many years of our friendship, you have convinced me more than once that you are a true fighter, a brave man, a man of strong will," Putin wrote Chavez, who remains hospitalized in Havana, Cuba, following cancer surgery Dec. 11.Full story
CARACAS, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- Venezuelan Vice President Nicolas Maduro said Tuesday ailing President Hugo Chavez is optimistic about his recovery from recent cancer surgery in Cuba and confident in his medical team.
"I am very optimistic and have full confidence in the treatments I am undergoing, we will beat this again, I am holding on to Christ and to life," Maduro said Chavez told him and Foreign Minister Elias Jaua, as they were leaving his bedside last week for a trip to Chile.Full story
SANTIAGO, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has overcome a respiratory infection and is under further treatment, a government minister said on Saturday.
"The respiratory infection has been overcome, though there is still some degree of breathing difficulty that is being treated appropriately," Information Minister Ernesto Villegas told reporters in Chile, where Latin American and European leaders are gathering for a two-day summit.Full story
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