VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT HUGO Chavez has said that he’s never felt healthier and is improving following his second round of chemotherapy.

Chavez, who is undergoing treatment for an unspecified cancer, had a tumour removed from his pelvic region in June.

During a 20-minute televised appearance, he said he has scaled back the length of his speeches on doctors’ orders.

He said he does not know yet if he will need a third round of chemotherapy and that his medical team will eventually consider whether he needs radiation treatment.

He said he does not have metastasis, meaning his cancer has not spread to other organs.

I’m doing very well. In fact, I’ve never been better.

Everybody knows chemotherapy has a tough impact and for that reason I must be very careful everyday regarding an infection, a germ, a virus.

During his speech, the president praised UNASUR for developing initiatives aimed at making South America less dependent on powerful countries.

He singled out as an example the Bank of the South, a regional development bank supported by seven South American nations, which was launched in 2009 with startup capital of $20 billion.

“We are innovating. We’re tired of copying foreign models,” Chavez said.

“Look how they are demonstrating their failure,” he added, referring to the economies of the United States and Europe that have been undergoing financial crises of late.

- AP