LA FRIA – Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez has declared himself cancer free, four months after surgery to remove a malignant tumour that shook the South American nation ahead of a 2012 presidential vote.
"I am free of illness," Mr Chavez (57) said yesterday in an address to Venezuelans after touching down from Cuba in a western state to make a pilgrimage to a Catholic shrine.
Despite the ebullient socialist's declarations, doctors say it is impossible for a cancer patient to be considered out of danger until at least two years after treatment has finished.
"His assertion of being cancer free is overly optimistic at this point," said a US-based cancer expert, who asked not to be named. "No matter what kind of cancer he was treated for, it's just too early to tell." – (Reuters)