Venezuelan authorities said President Hugo Chavez was in good condition Tuesday after surgeons in Cuba removed a lesion from his pelvic area, where they cut out a cancerous tumor last year. “The diagnosed pelvic lesion was totally extracted,” said Vice President Elias Jaua in a broadcast speech, adding that surrounding tissue was also removed and there were “no complications” with nearby organs. “President Chavez is in good physical condition,” Jaua added. Venezuelan officials have never specified the kind of cancer the leftist president has, but they have denied the cancer has spread to other organs. Jaua said doctors will study the results of the latest operation to determine “the optimum way to treat the lesion.” Venezuelan Defense Minister Henry Rangel, speaking on official television, said the news was received “with extraordinary pleasure” by the armed forces. Cuban state TV said Chavez was operated on successfully on Monday in the Center for Medical-Surgical Research (CIMEQ), Cuba’s most modern hospital. Chavez declared himself cancer-free last October, before announcing on February 21 that a small lesion had been discovered. “Nobody can say right now that it is another malignant tumor,” he said at the time, adding that “the likelihood that it is malignant is greater than that it is not.”
