Doctors slap down claim Chavez to die in 2 years

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Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez talks to the media as he arrives at the La Fria airport in the state of Tachira October 20, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

By Enrique Andres Pretel and Daniel Bases

CARACAS | Sat Oct 22, 2011 3:22pm EDT

CARACAS (Reuters) - Physicians treating Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez disputed on Saturday claims made by a former doctor of the socialist leader that he would die within two years from his undisclosed cancer.

In the first official public comments on Chavez's health, three physicians dressed in laboratory coats at Venezuela's main military hospital said Salvador Navarrete was uninformed and had just minimal contact with the leader a decade ago.

"The President, from the standpoint of cancer has been diagnosed and treated early. Subject to the appropriate follow-up treatments, the current status is quite satisfactory with an excellent prognosis," Dr. Fidel Ramirez said in a televised midday press conference.

"Navarrete was not Chavez's physician, a trusted party or his family," Ramirez said, adding that Navarrete had no scientific evidence or understanding of Chavez's condition.

Navarrete, in an open letter published by local media on Friday, said he has since fled the country, fearing for his safety after an interview published a week ago quoted him saying Chavez would be dead in two years.

Navarrete attended to Chavez a decade ago and claims he is in touch with some relatives and members of his medical team.

In his letter, Navarrete said the interview with Mexico's Milenio Semanal magazine was intended to combat official secrecy over Chavez's condition. He stood by his original prognosis of Chavez, which caused an uproar.

Chavez's health is the all-consuming issue for the South American OPEC member nation of 29 million people, one year ahead of a presidential election where he wants to be re-elected.

Chavez, 57, returned on Thursday from Cuba where he has received cancer treatments, declaring himself cancer-free in an event that included an open-top caravan to a regional Catholic shrine where he prayed and gave thanks for his recovery.

The three doctors on Saturday still would not disclose the type of cancer Chavez has, four months after surgery to remove a malignant tumor from his pelvis. This was followed by four cycles of chemotherapy treatment.

Experts say it is possible for a patient to be considered cancer free at the time of testing if no cancer cells are found, but that typically no one is considered cured of the disease unless tests are negative for a number of years.

By common convention, oncologists say a person can be considered cured after two to five years of clean tests.

Dr. Earle Siso Garcia, director of the military hospital, disputed claims that Chavez was having kidney problems.

Navarrete mentioned again in his open letter Chavez has seen a psychiatrist. However, this claim was denied as well.

"The president never ever had psychiatric treatment. This is a total fallacy," said Dr. Rafael Vargas.

(Editing by Vicki Allen)

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Chavez: 'Not a malignant cell in this body'

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In a government photo, Hugo Chavez speaks next to daughter Rosa Virginia before taking a plane to Cuba on Sunday.Venezuelan leader says he has beaten cancerHe was in Cuba for some medical testsThe experience made him more religious, he said

(CNN) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, back in his home country after five days of medical tests in Cuba, said Thursday that he was cured from the cancer he was diagnosed with this year.

"There are no malignant cells in this body. They don't exist," Chavez said during a visit to the state of Tachira, which borders Colombia. He was there to give thanks to Santo Cristo de la Grita, a statue depicting Jesus Christ.

Just four months ago, Chavez underwent emergency surgery in Cuba after he was found to have cancer.

"In these four months that have passed, we can say that a vital stage has concluded in the treatment of the illness that surprised me," Chavez said.

The tests he underwent in Cuba in the past days showed that his body had healed from his surgery and that chemotherapy left no toxins in his organs, he said.

Chavez said that the period seemed longer than four months and that during the ordeal, felt more Christian than before.

His health registered a perfect score, he said, adding that he will continue to monitor himself.

In June, he announced that doctors in Cuba had removed a cancerous tumor from his body. He has not said what type of cancer it was.

Chavez has undergone treatments in both Venezuela and Cuba.

Last month, the president was in Cuba for what he said was his fourth and possibly final round of chemotherapy.

Chavez has pledged to run for re-election next year, dismissing speculation that his illness would force him out of politics.

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Venezuela's Chavez laughs off court's election ruling

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By Hugh Bronstein

CARACAS | Sun Sep 18, 2011 2:36pm EDT

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, on his way to Cuba for a fourth round of chemotherapy on Saturday, dismissed an international court ruling that cleared a key opposition candidate to run against him in 2012.

The charismatic leftist has led Latin America's top oil exporting country since 1999 and wants to stay in office until at least 2025 to consolidate his self-styled "revolution."

The opposition -- galvanized by a recent decision from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights that cleared rival Leopoldo Lopez to run against Chavez -- aims to bring that revolution to an end in the October, 2012, election.

The court is part of the Organization of American States, or OAS, and its decisions are supposed to be binding. But Venezuela may keep Lopez out of the campaign just the same.

Despite being treated over the last three months for cancer, Chavez was in classic form on Saturday, breaking into song during marathon public appearances. In televised comments, he laughed the court decision off with a play on words.

"One of my haircuts is worth more than this court," he said to laughter from an audience of supporters. In Spanish, the word "corte" means "court" as well as "cut", as in haircut.

The 57-year-old leader has shaved his head since entering chemotherapy and often jokes about his new look. His government issued a statement on Friday dismissing the Lopez ruling as a politically motivated violation of Venezuelan sovereignty.

Chavez remains Venezuela's most popular politicians despite rampant crime and one of the highest inflation rates in the world. In June he underwent surgery in Cuba to remove a tumor in the pelvic area, throwing added uncertainty into Venezuela's upcoming political season.

TOUGH CAMPAIGN AHEAD

Centrist candidate Lopez was banned from politics by Venezuelan authorities who accuse him of corruption.

The 40-year-old centrist made his name as mayor of the wealthy Chacao district in Caracas. He was favored to go on to win the race for mayor of the whole city in 2008, but he was blocked by Chavez's comptroller general.

Accused but not tried for corruption, Lopez was barred from seeking public office until 2014. He says the accusations are trumped up and called it unconstitutional to suspend him from politics without first giving him a trial. The court agreed.

Chavez says he will soon be done with chemotherapy and promises to be fit for a rigorous campaign next year.

"I will go to Cuba this afternoon," he said. "Early tomorrow I will start the fourth round of chemotherapy, which will most likely be the last."

The president, who had the constitution changed to allow perpetual re-elections, said he expected to return to Venezuela by the middle of the week after about five days of treatment.

The opposition meanwhile aims to elect a unity candidate in February's primary, which Lopez vows to win.

Polls show him toward the top of an opposition field led by Henrique Capriles Radonski, a state governor who promises to emulate Brazil's "modern-left" policy model if elected.

(Additional reporting by Deisy Buitrago)

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