Chavez has operation, no official word on health

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez came out of cancer surgery overnight in Cuba and is recovering in a hospital, two sources said on Tuesday, but there was still no official word on the socialist leader's condition.

A prominent opposition-leaning Venezuelan journalist, Nelson Bocaranda, said Chavez was resting at Havana's Cimeq hospital after the exploratory procedure, which a medical source close to the team that had been treating him in Caracas said lasted 90 minutes.

The 57-year-old Chavez had to return to Havana last week for more surgery despite repeatedly saying he was cured after two procedures last year. That has fueled doubts about his ability to campaign for re-election in October, or to govern if he won.

Five days after the president bid an emotional farewell to throngs of cheering supporters in Caracas, there was no official comment on his health. One senior government source told a Reuters reporter to be patient.

Before he left, Chavez said he would need surgery on a probably malignant lesion in the same area of his pelvis where a large cancerous tumor was removed last June. He has also said he might need radiotherapy treatment after the latest operation, raising the prospect of another lengthy convalescence.

(Reporting by Daniel Wallis and Marianna Parraga; Editing by Will Dunham)