Chavez undergoes cancer surgery in Cuba

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez blows a goodbye kiss prior to boarding his plane at Simon Bolivar International Airport in Maiquetia, Venezuela, Dec. 10, 2012, in this picture released by Miraflores Press Office. / AP Photo/Miraflores Press Office

Updated at 5:40 p.m. ET

CARACAS, Venezuela Doctors began operating on Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in Cuba on Tuesday, his government said, after his illness reappeared despite a year and a half of surgeries and treatments.

Information Minister Ernesto Villegas, reading a government statement on Venezuelan television, said the surgery is under way and Chavez has "absolute confidence he will overcome the obstacles that have emerged in the path of life."

It is the fourth cancer-related operation that Chavez has undergone since June 2011.

Actor Sean Penn participates in a vigil for Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in La Paz, Bolivia, Dec. 10, 2012.

/ AP Photo

"His medical team has transmitted its optimism about the success of this operation," the government said in an earlier statement.

Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa called it "a very delicate operation."

"He's passing through one of the hardest moments of his life. Our heart and our solidarity are with a historic president," Correa said at an event in the Ecuadorean city of Tulcan.

Correa, a close ally of the socialist leader, traveled to Cuba on Monday to meet with Chavez.

The Venezuelan president announced on Saturday that he needed to undergo a fourth cancer-related surgery after tests showed that "some malignant cells" had reappeared in the same area in his pelvic region where tumors were previously removed.

[quincytodd]

I just can't get over how all these mindless Tea Partiers here continue with their never ending senseless anti-Chavez rants on this web page. Hugo Chavez is a good man and those who rant against him are only displaying their total ignorance. Have these people no shame? In fact, if being stupid were to be a virtue, these people here would be living saints!

[Ladybug75]

Thank you Quincytodd!!!

[Ronnieb271]

Although I don't agree with his views, I will pray for him. Cancer is a disease that I would not wish on my worst enemy.

[Meezermom1951]

Couldn't happen to a nicer guy! Hope he is suffering a goodly amount with this and then he takes the end run and doesn't make it. Sorry but there are good people and bad people and he is not one of the good ones!

[rjack61]

Did I miss something? Has Cuba advanced this far in medicine or anything else for that matter? I mean really, do they have the resources to perform an operation like what this guy needs and provide quality medical care?

[dpattan]

I would think Brazil would be a better choice over Cuba. Oh well, not one of my favorite people.

[ckoch181]

Yes, Cuba has one of the best medical care systems in the world. The US sends soldiers all over the World, Cuba sends Doctors all over the world.

[Pugiron]

Hope he survives so he can continue to suffer for years.