Caracas , Venezuela ( CNN ) -- Speculation and messages of support surged in Venezuela Wednesday , a day after President Hugo Chavez announced he would travel to Cuba for surgery . Doctors there will remove a lesion in the coming days from the same area of his body where doctors removed a cancerous tumor last year , Chavez said . The 57-year-old Venezuelan leader told state media in a phone interview late Tuesday that there was a high likelihood that the lesion was cancerous , due to its location , which he did not disclose . `` If it turns out to be malignant there will surely need to be another phase of radiation therapy , and this would slow me down , of course , '' he said . In June , Chavez said doctors in Cuba had removed a cancerous tumor but did not specify what type of cancer it was . He announced in October that treatment had cured him of cancer . Word of the new operation , which Chavez first announced on state television Tuesday afternoon , comes at a critical time , about seven months ahead of a presidential election . `` To my competitor , a son of God as I am , I wish him a successful operation , a quick recovery and a long life , '' opposition candidate Henrique Capriles Radonski said Wednesday in a Twitter post . The president 's allies sent strong messages of support . `` The president will have his treatment . The president will be with us in the campaign , he will be our candidate and he is our candidate for October 7 . ... The revolution will continue with Chavez in front , '' said Diosdado Cabello , president of Venezuela 's National Assembly . But some Venezuelans said they were skeptical . `` What surprises me is that the president had said before that his cancer was completely cured , so it took all of us by surprise , '' attorney Lourdes Rivas said . `` There is great anguish and uncertainty about whether he will be a candidate with such poor health . '' Store owner Carlos Picardo said he was confident the Venezuelan president would pull through . `` Of course it 's quite sensitive , but he is going to come out of this like he has come out of everything else . He will survive this . And if he does not , well , he is mortal like all of us , '' he said . In his interview with state television late Tuesday , Chavez said he was confident he would leave a legacy in Venezuela , no matter what doctors discover . `` Truly at this stage of life ... I am no longer myself . Truly I am the people , and I say this with much humility , but that 's how I feel . Independently of the days , years , et cetera that may be left in my physical life , I know that when I truly leave ... I will remain alive for many years ... I live in the people and the country , '' he said . Journalist Osmary Hernandez contributed to this report .
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says Cuban doctors will operate . The president said he is "optimistic" about the possibility of a deal with Cuba to allow medical personnel from Venezuela into Cuba. ` It took all of us by surprise , '' one Venezuelan says of the news . The operation comes at a critical time , seven months ahead of the election .