PRESIDENT HUGO CHAVEZ: "I find myself before my highest mountain and my longest walk..."

CARACAS, Venezuela - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez turned to philosophy and Twitter to describe his efforts to beat cancer on Monday, summoning the words of German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche.


"I find myself before my highest mountain and my longest walk," Chavez said in a message posted on his Twitter account. "That's how Zarathustra spoke!"

That quoted a passage from Nietzsche's treatise "Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A Book for All and None."

Nietzsche's book focuses on a prophet who reflects on his life as he descends from a mountain retreat and returns to mix with mankind. Chavez occasionally quotes the German philosopher in his speeches.

Chavez's government also said Monday that the president is recovering quickly after undergoing surgery last month that removed a cancerous tumour.

Chavez remarked on his health during a telephone conversation with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Sunday while exercising outdoors, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Chavez told the Russian leader "that he has experienced a rapid recovery from the complex operation," the Foreign Ministry said, adding that the president has been undergoing a first phase of rehabilitation.

It said that "has generated an optimal scenario" as he starts a second phase of recuperation, adding that Chavez now has a "feeling of realistic optimism."

Chavez has said he underwent surgery in Cuba on June 20 to remove a tumour from his pelvic region. Chavez hasn't said what type of cancer is involved.

Since his return to Caracas on July 4, the 56-year-old president has slowed his normally heavy agenda and has limited the length of his televised speeches, saying he is under strict orders from his doctors.

The Foreign Ministry said Medvedev wished Chavez a speedy recovery and told him he could count on Russia's help if needed. It said Medvedev told him that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov plans to visit Caracas on Aug. 22-23, and that he hopes to host Chavez in Moscow soon.

Chavez's remarks followed other optimistic assessments by his allies.

Bolivian President Evo Morales, who visited the Venezuelan leader last week, told Colombian radio station Caracol on Sunday that Chavez "has survived the bad moment, the worst."

Aristobulo Isturiz, a prominent member of Venezuela's ruling party, dismissed allegations from opposition politicians that Chavez is not fit to govern due to his illness. He told a news conference on Monday that Chavez is diligently attending to his duties as president.

"The president is governing, and he has not stopped governing for a single moment," Isturiz said. "Despite his process of recuperation, he's been working."

Another ally, former Venezuelan Vice-President Jose Vicente Rangel, said in an interview with the Colombian magazine Semana that "for the moment he's not going to need chemo."

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez does not have colon cancer and does not currently need chemotherapy, his former vice president told Colombian media, without detailing Chavez's exact condition.




Chavez staged a triumphant return to Venezuela on Monday after cancer surgery in Cuba but doubts remain as to whether he is strong enough to run the OPEC nation and whether he will be able to have a full-scale campaign for the 2012 presidential election.

WHAT HUGO CHAVEZ HAS?

"He is sick but he is not gravely ill," Jose Vicente Rangel said in an interview with Colombia's Semana magazine published on Saturday. "I know that the cancer he has is not colon (cancer) and that for the moment he will not need chemotherapy."

One source close to Chavez's doctors has told the president does have colon cancer and will undergo chemotherapy treatment that could last several months.

Officials at the presidential palace did not immediately respond to requests for clarification on the issue. Senior government officials say the president is recovering well but have not said what sort of cancer he was treated for.

Rangel, who was Chavez's vice president for five years, now works as a journalist and is not a member of the government.

Chavez had a June 10 operation in Cuba to remove a pelvic abscess and later had a second operation for an unspecified type of cancer.

A considerable deterioration of Chavez' condition could upend politics in Venezuela, which has been dominated for 12 years by his self-styled socialist revolution.

Since returning home, the convalescing Chavez has considerably scaled back his long-winded oratories, such as his Sunday talk show, which sometimes stretched for more than eight hours, opting instead for brief half-hour television appearances.

Hugo Chavez stay in Cuba could last for months

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's stay in Cuba, where he is being treated for cancer, could last for months, the country's vice president told a Colombian radio station.


Vice President Elias Jaua told W Radio Friday that Chavez would return to Venezuela "before 180 days."

The timetable is much larger than initial government claims that Chavez would return by July 5.

Chavez this week admitted that he had a cancerous tumor removed and was undergoing further treatment. The announcement confirmed rumors as his stay in Cuba extended, despite government reports that he had undergone a simple procedure.

So far, the government says that Chavez is remotely carrying out all his duties and is not in any form incapacitated in a way that would prevent him from doing so. From Cuba, Chavez has overseen a prison standoff that is going on its third week, and has given his ministers orders, officials have said.

But the Venezuelan constitution states that in the event of an absence, the executive powers must be transferred to the vice president, opposition politicians say.


Specifically, Article 234 of the document states that for a "temporary absence" of the president of up to 90 days, the vice president will fill in for him. This period can be extended an additional 90 days by lawmakers.

The pro-Chavez majority in Congress is likely to block any vote to label Chavez as "temporarily absent," but Jaua appeared to be referring to the law when he said the president would be back before 180 days.

In the meantime, the government continues to push the image of a Chavez carrying out his presidential duties from Cuba.

On Saturday, Chavez was to meet in Cuba with several of his Cabinet members, the state-run AVN news agency reported. The meeting, which will be broadcast by Cuban television, will include Agriculture Minister Juan Carlos Loyo, Energy and Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez, and Science, Technology and Industry Minister Ricardo Menendez, the agency reported.

The government on Friday released video footage of a similar meeting Chavez held with his top general, foreign minister and his brother, who is a governor.