Chavez recovery 'complex and difficult,VP warns

President Hugo Chavez faces a "complex and difficult" recovery from cancer surgery in Cuba, Venezuela's Vice President and heir apparent Nicolas Maduro warned an anxious nation on Wednesday. The six-hour operation Tuesday "was complex, difficult, delicate, which tells us that the post-surgery process will also be complex and difficult," Maduro, Chavez's handpicked successor, said in a radio and TV broadcast. The president "was very clear" that the country must be "prepared to face a tough and difficult situation" that can be overcome only if Venezuelans remain united, Maduro said. Chavez flew to Havana for surgery on Monday after revealing that his cancer had returned just two months after his triumphant re-election to a new six-year term that begins on January 10. The 58 year-old president was first diagnosed with the disease in June 2011. After three rounds of surgery, in addition to chemotherapy and radiation, Chavez had assured Venezuelans earlier this year that he was cancer-free. The operation "ended correctly and successfully," Maduro, to whom Chavez delegated power before flying to Havana, had told Venezuelans late Tuesday. The vice president described the procedure as a "corrective surgery of a lesion" that occurred in the pelvic region, but did not elaborate. The type, location and severity of Chavez's cancer have been kept secret over the past 18 months, fueling rumors and uncertainty in Venezuela. There was no news on when Chavez would return to Venezuela. Chavez supporters held religious services and candlelight vigils across the country, praying for their leader to overcome the disease. Without formally handing over the presidency, Chavez said he was delegating the country's "high political command" to Maduro, 50, while he was gone, and said the vice president would succeed him if he became incapacitated. Under Venezuela's constitution, elections must be held within 30 days if the president dies or is incapacitated. Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa, who visited Chavez on Monday, expressing concern over the "very delicate operation." Correa, a firebrand leftist economist who could succeed Chavez as leader of the Latin American left, flew to the Venezuelan's side in Havana where he found him in "great spirits" before the operation. "He gives us all strength," Correa said on Twitter. Correa said he had also visited Cuban President Raul Castro and his predecessor Fidel Castro during his day-long stay in the Cuban capital. With Cuba's backing, Chavez has taken the lead in forming a bloc of leftist Latin American governments that oppose US policies in the region, and has cultivated friendly relations with Washington adversaries like Iran. Members of the group include Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador and Nicaragua -- all of which receive substantial aid from oil-rich Venezuela. Chavez is believed to be receiving treatment at the same Havana hospital where Fidel Castro has been cared for, the communist country's best facility for complicated medical conditions. Chavez's cancer operation came against the backdrop of frantic campaigning for regional elections set for Sunday. Chavez supporters are expected to win in most of Venezuela's 23 states, but all eyes will be on the governors race for the populous state of Miranda, where Caracas is located. The Miranda race pits Henrique Capriles -- the former state governor who made Chavez work hard for his October 7 presidential election win as the unified opposition candidate -- against Chavez loyalist and ex-vice president Elias Jaua. burs-ch/ag