Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced on Friday that he has requested authorization from Parliament to go to Cuba on Saturday to continue his cancer treatment, including chemotherapy.
“I ask permission to be go to Havana, starting Saturday, July 16, to continue the full treatment to restore my health”, said the President to the press, reading the text of his request to Parliament.
“I’ll wait for the authorization of the Parliament and will go to Havana to begin what we call the second stage of the process of recovery”, said Chavez, adding that this so-called second phase “will begin the next day with chemotherapy ” . Meanwhile, “I will pray to Jesus Christ who has inspired my humility”, he said.
Venezuela’s Constitution stipulates that the President must request authorization to leave the country for over five days.
For the first time, Hugo Chavez acknowledged Wednesday that his condition may require treatment with chemotherapy, refuting rumors that he had been the victim of a colon or stomach cancer.
Hugo Chavez, aged 56 years, a radical leftist Latin American leader, was operated for the cancerous tumor in the pelvic area on June 20 in Cuba, where he remained for a month before returning to the country last week.
President of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff, who was treated for cancer herself before taking office on 1 January, has suggested the Venezuelan leader to go to a specialized hospital in Sao Paulo.
However, Brazilian official agency Agencia Brasil announced Friday that Hugo Chavez will go to Brazil in the coming days to continue treatment in a specialized hospital in Sao Paulo.