Hugo Chavez out of surgery

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HAVANA, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- Venezuela President Hugo Chavez's cancer surgery in Cuba was successful, Vice President Nicolas Maduro said Tuesday.

Maduro went on television to tell the nation Chavez's operation was both "complex" and a "complete success," the BBC reported.

It was the president's fourth cancer-related operation since June 2011, the British network noted. Chavez, 58, is to begin a new six-year term in office next month.

The BBC said Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa visited Chavez in Havana prior to his operation and later returned to Ecuador.

"My friend and colleague, Commander Hugo Chavez, is going through the toughest times of his life," the BBC said Correa was quoted as saying ahead of the procedure.