Hugo Chávez returns home after latest chemotherapy - and he's full of big news

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez returned to Caracas last night (September 22), after spending five days in Havana for what he says will likely be his last round of chemotherapy for an undisclosed form of cancer. He met with Cuban President Raul Castro and with Fidel Castro for five hours before departing the island. The events were reported today in Cuba's government controlled newspapers, Granma and Juventud Rebelde (Young Rebel). Chávez' self-prognosis was glowing: "Everybody is agreed that my test results are very positive. We can say that the chemotherapy phase is over, that chapter is closed, and now I can get on with making a full recovery." His remarks were at odds with claims by a former U.S. diplomatic official reported yesterday (see my post below). The official claims that he was told by reliable sources that Chávez condition is quite guarded, and that he had not responded well to the latest round of treatment.

In any case Chávez was full of news yesterday on arrival in Caracas. He condemned Barack Obama's remarks to the United Nations General Assembly concerning the pending Palestinian application for statehood as a "monument to cynicism." More surprisingly, Chávez' Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Temir Porras, told the AP in a telephone interview that Chávez deserved partial credit for this week's release of two Americans who had been detained in Iran since 2009. Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal were each released on $500,000 USD "bail" several days ago, although there is no expectation that they will ever return to the country for further legal proceedings. They were arrested after straying across the border between Iran and Iraq while hiking. Bauer and Fattal have repeatedly said it was an inadvertent crossing, but Iraqi officials accused them of various crimes, including spying. Several governments helped negotiate the release, particularly Omán's. However, Porras said that Chávez decided to get involved in the case because he believes Bauer's and Fattal's account of what happened. According to Porras, Chávez "asked his Iranian counterpart, Mahmud Ahmadinejad, to undertake a 'benevolent review' of the case, and if he saw fit, to release the young men to their families as a humanitarian gesture."

Chávez indeed fancies himself an international player. Several weeks ago he called upon "independent nations" to come to the aid of deposed Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Hugo Chávez' condition in dispute after his latest cancer treatment in Cuba: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2012/03/hugo-chavez-condition-in-dispute-after.html.