Venezuelan vice president Elias Jaua reports that Hugo Chávez is in “good physical condition” following surgery to remove a tumor from his pelvic region in Cuba Tuesday. The country’s National Assembly greeted the news with cheers of “Onward, Comandante!” Chávez himself had said that his tumor might have been cancerous, but his doctors did not comment Tuesday on whether or not it was malignant. According to doctors outside the country, yesterday’s announcement said little about the socialist leader’s health or what kind of cancer he had. The 57-year-old leader, who had a large malignant tumor removed in an operation in Cuba last year, reportedly did not delegate authority while out of his country for the surgery.
