Chavez faces surgery, says lesion likely malignant

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President Hugo Chavez announced Tuesday that doctors in Cuba found a new lesion in the same place where a cancerous tumor was removed last year and said he will shortly return to the island to have it surgically removed.

He told Venezuelans he did not know if the lesion is malignant but that the probability is high, adding that they should not expect to see him in coming weeks as he will likely need localized radiation therapy.

"I'm not going to be able to continue with the same rhythm," Chavez told state TV via telephone Tuesday night, adding that he would need to "rethink my personal agenda and take care of myself, confront what must be confronted."

The announcement thrust Venezuelan politics into new uncertainty because the socialist leader is seeking re-election this year, hoping to extend his more than 13 years in power with a new six-year term.

Initialy announcing the lesion in an afternoon state TV appearance from his home state of Barinas, Chavez said the lesion was about "two centimeters (less than one inch) in diameter, very clearly visible."

He said it would be removed by the same surgeons who excised a tumor from his pelvic region last June, and expected the new operation would be less complicated.

Chavez, 57, did not say when he would depart for Cuba. He said he would attend to government business Wednesday, including signing papers, meeting with the Cabinet and armed forces leaders.

He said he would head for Havana "without haste. All in good time."

A leading Colombian oncologist, Dr. Carlos Castro, said that if Chavez undergoes radiation therapy that typically means a minimum of 10 daily sessions, which means Chavez would need to name a temporary replacement while undergoing treatment.

From July to September, Chavez received four rounds of chemotherapy, both in Cuba and in Venezuela, and subsequently said tests showed he was cancer-free.

On Tuesday, Chavez denied rumors that the cancer had spread aggressively.

"I completely deny what's going around that I have metastasis in the liver or I don't know where, that the cancer has spread all over my body and that I'm already dying," he said.

He has never specified the cancer's exact nature or location, and critics have repeatedly accused Chavez of a lack of transparency.

Analyst Cynthia Arnson of the Woodrow Wilson International Center in Washington said Tuesday's announcement seriously complicates Chavez's prospects for re-election on Oct. 7.

"It's now clear that Chavez's cancer is far from cured. Chavez's illness — his ability to campaign as well as to govern — is a major factor in the race. It erodes the aura of invincibility as well as inevitability that Chavez has always tried to create," she said.

The governing party will also be vexed as it lacks an alternative with Chavez's charisma and popular following, Arnson said. She predicted "a tight race (will get) even tighter" against opposition candidate Henrique Capriles, a 39-year-old state governor.

He said rumors, including that the cancer has been spreading, prompted him to go public. He had been out of public sight since Friday, not announcing his trip to Cuba.

His government's handling of unconfirmed reports that he spent the weekend there undergoing medical tests turned out to be ham-fisted. On Monday, repeated attempts by The Associated Press to confirm the reports went unanswered, and Communications Minister Andres Izarra vehemently denied them online.

"Regarding the rumors, dirty war from the gutter," Izarra tweeted.

Also Monday, an employee of the Venezuela Embassy in Havana said there was no indication Chavez had gone to Cuba or planned to do so. The person did say that some members of the presidential family were in Cuba but had already left. The employee spoke on condition of anonymity, lacking authorization to discuss the matter publicly.

Chavez, whose approval ratings have topped 50 percent in recent polls, has in recent weeks recovered the hair he shaved off during chemotherapy and appeared vigorous, albeit puffy around the face and neck. He had returned to a full schedule of activities including marathon television appearances.

"I am in good physical shape to confront this new battle," Chavez said on Tuesday afternoon.

He later choked up, reflecting on mortality in the phone call.

"I ask for life," he said. "I want to live with you and fight with you until the last moment of this life that God gave me."

He called on his backers to "accelerate the (electoral) battle."

Doctors consulted by the AP said it was difficult to assess Chavez's prognosis.

But Dr. Javier Cebrian, a colorectal specialist and chief surgeon at University Hospital in Caracas, said news that the lesion was in the very place the initial tumor was removed was not good.

"A local recurrence is a bad symptom because it means the illness is growing again," he said.

"It's an ominous sign," said Dr. Michael Pishvaian, a Georgetown University oncologist. He said doctors often use the term lesion to refer to a new tumor, which appears to fit Chavez's description.

He said such a reappearance, particularly when a patient has undergone surgery then chemotherapy, suggests cancerous cells have resisted the treatments.

Many Venezuelans have been impressed by Chavez's fortitude.

"It's already established that Chavez is a superman because he was sick and he didn't delegate to anyone," said Luis Montilla, a 51-year-old lawyer.

Capriles' campaign coordinator, Armando Briquet, said he and his team wish Chavez "a complete recovery" and "a long life although we have always been critical about the lack of real information about the president's health."

Capriles claims Chavez has exploited his lengthy rule to balance the scales against a fair election, taking advantage of government money and slanted coverage in state media.

He is a strident critic of Chavez's expropriations of hundreds of businesses, apartment buildings and farms over the past decade.

The government's generous spending has made Chavez a hero to many of his supporters, which make up a large segment of Venezuela's poor.

Opponents say Chavez has done nothing to combat Venezuela's rampant violent crime and blame him for 26 percent inflation. His opponents also criticize the former paratroop commander for his strident anti-U.S. rhetoric and defense of Iran and its nuclear program.

The U.S. Embassy in Caracas has been without an ambassador since July 2010.

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Associated Press writers Vivian Sequera in Bogota, Colombia, Ian James in New York and Andrea Rodriguez in Havana contributed to this report.

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Greece likely to get bailout but issues remain

BRUSSELS (AP) — Eurozone governments will likely approve on Monday a long-elusive rescue package for Greece, saving it from a potentially calamitous bankruptcy next month, senior officials said.

But finance ministers meeting in Brussels will have a few last issues to wrangle over, such as tighter controls over Greece's spending and further cuts to the country's debt load.

Greece needs to secure the euro130 billion ($170 billion) bailout quickly so it can move ahead with a related euro100 billion ($130 billion) debt relief deal with private investors, which needs to be in place quickly if Athens is to avoid defaulting on a bond repayment on March 20.

An uncontrolled bankruptcy would likely force Greece to leave the 17-country currency union and return to its old currency, the drachma, further shaking its already beaten economy and creating uncertainty across Europe.

French Finance Ministers Francois Baroin told Europe-1 radio that while details will have to be worked out, "the political commitments have been made" for the bailout package, Greece's second in two years.

"We now have all the elements of a deal — elements of a participation that remains voluntary for banks and private lenders, and for public lenders states, central banks," Baroin said.

He is traveling to Brussels to meet his counterparts from the 16 other euro countries, as well as representatives for the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and private holders of Greek debt.

Greece's Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos, who arrived in Brussels Sunday night, said he was also optimistic that the new aid program could be agreed.

"Greece comes into today's Eurogroup meeting having fulfilled all the requirements for the approval of the new program," he said. "For Greeks, this is a matter of national dignity and a national strategic choice and no other integrated and responsible choice can be opposed to it."

The Greek parliament has faced down violent protests in Athens and nationwide strikes to approve the austerity and reform measures demanded by the eurozone. Its main political leaders have committed in writing to uphold the bailout terms even after general elections in April.

Despite Athens' efforts, however, several important elements of the deal remained unsolved.

To convince the rest of the eurozone that the new aid money won't be squandered, Greece will have to set up a separately managed account that would ensure that it services its debt. The idea behind such an escrow account is that it would maintain pressure on Greece to stick to promised austerity and reform measures, without the eurozone risking the destabilizing effects of a default.

The escrow account would give legal priority to debt and interest payments over paying for government services.

Eurozone finance ministry officials Sunday night concluded that only funds from the bailout would be funneled through the account and that Greece won't be required to pay in taxpayer money, German Finance Ministry spokeswoman Marianne Kothe said in Berlin, citing the current state of the negotiations.

The escrow account nevertheless would be an unprecedented intrusion into a sovereign state's fiscal affairs and could ultimately see Greece force to pay interest on its debt rather than its teachers, doctors or other government employees.

A Greek official indicated Monday that "many problematic and unenforceable" elements were taken off the table, but declined to elaborate. The official was also speaking on condition of anonymity because the talks were ongoing.

The second big outstanding issue is how to make sure that the current efforts to save Greece can actually bring the country's debts down to a manageable level in the longer term. In October, eurozone leaders and the IMF said that Greece's debt should be reduced to around 120 percent of annual economic output by 2020, from above 160 percent currently.

But a new report prepared by the European Commission, the ECB and the IMF concluded that the new bailout, Athens' spending cuts and a planned euro100 billion debt relief from private investors would still leave Greece's debt at almost 129 percent of economic output by the end of the decade.

The eurozone is still discussing several ways to close this financing gap.

The Greek official said there appeared to be agreement on further reducing the interest rate on Greece's first, euro110 billion bailout as well as having national central banks in the eurozone, which also hold some Greek bonds, participate in the debt relief.

But the official said that there was still no final decision from the ECB on whether it would be willing to transfer profits from its Greek bond holdings back to Athens. In contrast to the national central banks, who purchased Greek bonds as part of their overall investment strategies, the ECB bought its Greek holdings in an effort to ease market pressure on Athens.

A fourth option for closing the gap would be to demand further losses from Greece's private bondholders like banks and other investment funds. A current plan foresees private creditors to swap their old Greek bonds for new ones with half the face value, lower interest rates and much longer repayment periods.

But now there is a push for bondholders to also give up on an accrued interest payment of around euro5.5 billion on their old bonds.

Another issue due to be discussed Monday is how much the IMF will contribute to the new rescue. The Washington-based fund has provided one-third of the bailouts for Ireland and Portugal and chipped in euro30 billion for Greece's first euro110 billion ($145 billion) rescue. But this time around, it looks as if the IMF will put up much less than one-third.

"The indication is that the figure will be rather low," said the EU official, adding however that a final decision from the fund's board is still outstanding. IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde will also be at the Brussels meeting Monday.

The U.S. has expressed support for the IMF to take part in an aid program for Greece.

"This is a very strong and very difficult package of reforms, deserving of support of the international community and the IMF," U.S. treasury chief Timothy Geithner said in a statement Sunday. "The United States will encourage the IMF to support this agreement."

The Greek government is expected to introduce in Parliament on Monday another two pieces of emergency legislation, including wage and pension cuts. There were scattered protests over the cuts in Athens on Sunday.

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Keaten reported from Paris. Juergen Baetz in Berlin and Elena Becatoros in Athens, Greece, contributed to this story.

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