CARACAS, Venezuela ? Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez celebrated his 57th birthday Thursday saying cancer treatment had weakened his immune system but vowing to overcome his illness.
Chavez said he expects his hair will begin to fall out soon due to chemotherapy. Still, he said he should be finished with the most difficult phase of his cancer treatments by December, when he hopes to host a summit of Latin American leaders in Caracas.
"At the end of the year, I should have passed this hard, careful, very, very strict phase," Chavez said in a telephone conversation aired on state television.
He said he sent letters inviting Latin American and Caribbean leaders to the summit in Caracas on Dec. 9. That meeting had originally been scheduled for July 5 and 6 but was postponed due to Chavez's illness.
Meanwhile around the country, Chavez's supporters held a series of televised events honoring his birthday. A group of children sang for him, oil workers in red hardhats sent best wishes, and the president's older brother, Adan, led a crowd singing "Happy Birthday."
Chavez didn't attend the events. He's said that for now he needs to limit his contact with the public because chemotherapy has weakened him and his white blood cell count has declined.
"The defenses decrease, and I have a lot of restrictions on interpersonal contact," Chavez said. "I even asked my mother, my brothers, my family, to stay put in Barinas," their home state in western Venezuela.
Chavez's mother, Elena Frias, sent her best wishes in an interview on state television.
"I would calmly trade my life for that of my son because I know that my son is more needed by Venezuela than I am," she said.
Chavez also said he planned to address supporters from the balcony of the presidential palace later in the day.
"I'm going to be here in private with my close team," Chavez said. "But of course, I'm going to the balcony."
Chavez underwent surgery in Cuba on June 20 to remove a cancerous tumor. He hasn't said what type of cancer he has been diagnosed with or specified where exactly it was located, saying only that it was in his pelvic region.
He underwent his first phase of chemotherapy in Cuba last week, and said the treatment was to ensure no malignant cells reappear.
The president said he was preparing to begin a second phase of chemotherapy.
"But putting all those things aside, I'm happy," he said.
The leftist president, who has been in office since 1999, is seeking re-election next year to another six-year term.
Chavez said he was sorry he couldn't attend Thursday's inauguration of Peruvian President Ollanta Humala, and that he sent his foreign minister in his place.
"I sent a hug to Ollanta," said Chavez, who also offered congratulatory messages to the Peruvian leader through his Twitter account.
Calling his 57th birthday "sublime" in the televised talk, he added: "And I invite you to my 67th."
Chavez said he felt like he was undergoing a "complete rebirth."
"Right now I'm like the phoenix," Chavez said. "A new life has been born within me."
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Associated Press writer Fabiola Sanchez contributed to this report.
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