Dictator Hugo Chavez admits he had cancerous tumors but he is determined to "overcome" health battle !

Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan leader, has admitted in a television address that he had a tumor but had undergone a successful operation in Cuba to extract the cancerous cells and was on the road to full recovery.

The 56-year-old made his first televised speech to the nation on Thursday since he had surgery on June 10 in Havana that triggered widespread speculation he might be seriously ill.


Chavez said the medical process was "slow and careful" and added that he was determined to "overcome" the health battle.

His speech was broadcast from Cuba, where Chavez has been for the last three weeks, recovering from surgery on what the Venezuelan government has said was an abcess in the pelvis.

There is huge uncertainty about who could replace Chavez, given the fact that Venezuela's political structures are so closely tied to his persona.

"Chavez is really the man of Venezuela," Al Jazeera's Mariana Sanches explained. "There's really not a figure in the ruling party, or even in the opposition, that will match the charisma that Hugo Chavez has."

Deputy to Hugo Chavez said the regime was united after the emotional speech by Chavez announcing he had undergone successful surgery to remove cancerous cells from a tumor.

Flanked by regime ministers and speaking on state television shortly after Chavez's speech, Deputy to Chavez Elias Jaua said Chavez's wide-reaching socialist reforms would be "deepened" despite his ill health.

An Asian Dictator too had a similar cancerous issue but according to internal sources he had not recovered yet