Chavez heads to Cuba for further cancer treatment

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez plans to fly to Havana on Saturday to begin a new phase of cancer treatment, including chemotherapy sessions. "I need to continue completing the strict plan designed by the medical team that is accompanying me on this ascent of the mountain," Chavez said on Friday in comments carried on state television. The 56-year-old left-wing populist had surgery in Cuba last month to remove a cancerous tumor from his pelvic region. 'I'm going to begin the second stage of this slow, complex process of recuperation,' he said on state television. "It will start with chemotherapy." "I'm asking for legislative authority to absent myself from the country from Saturday, July 16, in order to continue the treatment plan in Havana needed for me to recover my full health," Chavez said. Brazil's official news agency earlier reported that Chavez had accepted to be treated at the same Sao Paulo hospital that treats Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo, who is also suffering from cancer. "I have faith in God, medical science and our Cuban and Venezuelan doctors and finally in my own will to live - to live for my people, for my daughters and grandchildren and myself - that we will continue along the path to recovery," Chavez added.