Venezuela's Chavez says cancer back, plans surgery in "coming days"

CARACAS (AP) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced that his cancer has returned and that he will undergo another surgery in Cuba.

Mr Chavez, who won re-election on Oct 7, also said for the first time that if his health were to worsen, his successor would be Vice President Nicolas Maduro.

"We should guarantee the advance of the Bolivarian Revolution," Mr Chavez said on television on Saturday night (Sunday morning Singapore time), seated at the presidential palace with Mr Maduro and other aides.

The president said that tests had shown a return of "some malignant cells" in the same area where tumours were previously removed. He said he would return to Cuba later on Sunday to undergo surgery in the coming days.