(Reuters) - Venezuela's socialist leader Hugo Chavez acknowledged he had surgery for cancer, shaking the political system he has dominated for more than a decade and alarming supporters counting on him to win re-election in 2012.
The usually loquacious Chavez, 56, confirmed in a speech on Thursday that he had undergone surgery in Cuba to remove a cancerous tumor and was receiving more treatment. He said he needed to recover before returning to Venezuela to run his self-styled socialist revolution.
"We will live and we will conquer. Until my return!" Chavez ended Thursday night's emotion-charged address from Havana.
In poor Caracas shantytowns, where Chavez is still widely loved for using oil revenues to build new clinics and schools, supporters saluted him with fireworks. "He's alive! He's alive!" one group shouted in the poor Catia area after the speech.
Opposition leaders may take the news as a sign Chavez is weakened and less likely to win next year's vote.
"For the Republic, the best thing that can happen is for the president to recover and to take over full governance, so that the natural political process can evolve, which is to carry out elections next year," said Teodoro Petkoff, who runs the opposition newspaper Tal Cual.
The opposition was trying hard to avoid appearing gleeful at Chavez's ill health, though some detractors posted vitriolic messages on Twitter and other sites.
"It is impossible to deduce if he will or will not be in a physical state and the right mood to go into the 2012 campaign," said local analyst Luis-Vicente Leon.
Known for eight-hour speeches and frequent camera appearances, Chavez left Venezuela in near silence and its government functioning at half-steam for almost three weeks after a June 10 operation to remove a pelvic abscess.
Can he still govern from Cuba? Can he control his coalition? Will he be able to rule for another decade as he has often promised?
Perhaps to answer fears of a power vacuum or succession fight, Chavez said he remained "at the helm" of government" in "permanent communication" with his Vice President Elias Jaua.
Supporters seemed shocked and at times in denial at the news of his cancer.
His popularity has been weakened in recent years as he has struggled to keep up with bread-and-butter government tasks such as keeping electricity flowing, putting criminals in jail and providing housing for the poor.
Remaining in Cuba could further compromise advances in those areas, especially since state leaders are notoriously slow to make decisions without his direct involvement.
