Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez admitted publicly for the first time that his cancer had returned and said he faces a new round of radiotherapy treatment after having a second malignant tumor removed in Cuba, AFP reported.

"The tumor was completely removed and what we assumed was confirmed: it's a recurrence of the cancer I was originally diagnosed with," Chavez, who is facing a tough reelection battle later this year, said on state television.

The 57-year-old underwent surgery in Havana last week for what he had called a "lesion" - it was removed from the same area, around the pelvis, where a first tumor was extracted in June 2011.

Chavez, who has been in Cuba for treatment since February 24, said Sunday, March 4, that the new tumor was about two centimeters in length - much smaller than the earlier one, which he described as being "about the size of a baseball."

No date has been announced for his return to Venezuela.