Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez has said he will be home from Cuba in a week and will start radiation therapy for cancer that could leave him weakened ahead of his re-election bid on October 7th.
Chatting for more than two hours in a televised address from Havana, where he is recovering from a third bout of surgery to treat cancer in his pelvic area, Chávez seemed eager to show he is fully in command of the government, despite his illness.
Flanked by some of his cabinet ministers at the head of a long table, he laughed and sang songs in an apparent effort to quash rumours that his illness could be life-threatening.
Opinion polls still show Mr Chávez leading election rival Enrique Capriles.
