Chavez Recovering After Surgery

Agence France Press reports:

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was recovering satisfactorily Sunday after undergoing surgery in Cuba and was expected to return home "in the coming days," officials from the presidential entourage said.

But Information Minister Andres Izarra, who made the announcement Saturday, did not specify how many days the president would remain at a Cuban hospital where surgeons removed an abscess in his pelvic area early Friday.

Izarra, who said he wanted to "reassure the Venezuelan people," noted that was Chavez was doing well and that the country's citizens would continue receiving updates about his health.

He did not offer specifics.

Chavez has been on an official visit to Cuba since Wednesday. He held talks with President Raul Castro as well as with his brother Fidel, the ailing leader of the Cuban revolution.

According to Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro, the abscess was discovered during a medical check-up performed on Chavez "by a trustworthy medical team."

The discovery prompted the president "to decide to immediately undergo a corrective surgical procedure," Maduro said.

The 56-year-old Venezuelan leader was accompanied at the hospital by his aides, doctors and some members of his family, the officials said.

A pelvic abscess is a pus-filled cavity normally caused by an infection. Treatment usually involves a surgical drainage and dead tissue removal, experts said.