Chavez says he is free of cancer

"I am free of illness," Chavez, 57, said in an address to Venezuelans after touching down from Cuba in a western state to make a pilgrimage to a Catholic shrine.

"The new Chavez is back ... We will live!"

Despite the charismatic socialist president's ebullience, doctors say it is impossible for him to be considered out of danger until at least two years after treatment has finished.

"No matter what kind of cancer he was treated for, it's just too early to tell," said a US-based cancer expert, who asked not to be named.

Nearly 13 years into a radical rule that has transformed the South American OPEC member, Chavez plans to run for re-election in a presidential vote set for October 2012, and insists he will win.

"It will be easier for a donkey to pass through the eye of a needle than for the opposition to win the elections," Chavez added in a typically idiosyncratic use of a Biblical quote.

With constant jibes at Washington and a self-styled "revolution" at home, Chavez has become one of the world's best-known and most controversial heads of state.

He says he wants to rule for at least another decade or two to "accelerate" reforms that have included sweeping nationalizations, huge injections of oil revenues into social projects in the slums, and tighter grips on opponents.

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