PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti, April 6, CMC – President Michel Martelly has successfully completed medical treatment in the United States, a statement from the Presidential Palace said Friday.
It said that the 51-year-old head of state had successfully completed arthoscopic surgery in Miami and that the operation in his right shoulder “went well” and Martelly will spend the next few days recuperating in Miami.
Martelly, who underwent surgery on his left shoulder last November, left his earthquake-ravaged country on Wednesday for the operation. He is expected back home on next Thursday to host Mexico’s President Felipe Calderon, the Presidential Palace said.
Meantime, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez returned to his homeland after completing a second round of radiation therapy in Cuba.
Chávez had travelled to the Spanish-speaking Caribbean island on Saturday to continue treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer.
Chávez’s decision to cancel television appearances and radio interviews over the four-day period fuelled speculation that he had encountered problems.
“So far, thankfully, there has been no adverse reaction to the treatment,” Chávez said, after landing in his home state of Barinas.
“My body has been responding well and all the exams they’ve done have shown I’m recovering physically,” he added.
Dr. José Marquina, who says he has been receiving direct information on the medical status of the president, said that Chávez had to be hospitalised in the Center of Medical Surgical Research after suffering severe intestinal pain.
“I was able to confirm with people in Cuba that Chávez was not well and that he was hospitalized as an emergency at the Center because he had very severe abdominal pain,” Marquina told reporters.
