Chavez receives surgery in Havana

QUITO - Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez received a surgery Tuesday in Cuban capital Havana for his cancer, according to Ecuador's President Rafael Correa.

"A dear friend and colleague is going through the toughest test in his life ... Hugo Chavez is undergoing surgery at this moment," Correa said at the opening of the first Ecuador-Colombia Binational Cabinet meeting in the Ecuadorian city of Tulcan.

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez (R) gestures next to Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro at the World People's Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth in Tiquipaya on the outskirts of Cochabamba in this April 22, 2010 file photo. [Photo/Agencies]

Correa Monday traveled to Havana to visit and support Chavez and returned to Quito on Tuesday. He wrote in a Tweeter post: "Coming back from Havana, I visited Chavez and met with Raul and Fidel Castro. Chavez is in great spirits, he gives strength to all!"

"Hugo Chavez is not alone in this fight. We came here to give him a hug in the name of the Ecuadorean people. He is a historic president and a great friend," Correa told journalists in Havana before returning.

Earlier in the Day, Venezuela's Minister of Communication and Information Ernesto Villegas said in Caracas that Chavez will undergo the surgery Tuesday.

In a televised statement from the government palace, Villegas said the president's medical team expressed optimism on the outcome and on Chavez's recovery, adding doctors had begun pre- surgery protocols and would operate later in the day in Havana.

Villegas urged Venezuelans to pray for their leader and send " feelings of love to the commander."

Chavez, 58, was first diagnosed with cancer in 2011 and has previously received three surgeries.

Before traveling to Cuba Saturday, Chavez has designated Vice President Nicholas Maduro as his successor should he becomes incapacitated.