Chávez: I May Need Chemo

Reports of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez’s impending death have been greatly exaggerated, he says. In a phone interview with state TV, Chávez moved to tamp down rumors that he may be in very poor health, saying that he intends to survive his cancer and run for reelection in 2012. He didn’t say what sort of cancer it is, but said it was stage II and that he’d had a baseball-size tumor removed in Cuba in June. And Chávez says he may need chemotherapy or radiation. The despotic leader has no clear successor, and rumors about Chávez’s health have raised questions about the future of his regime.