In this picture released by Cuba's state newspaper Granma and taken by Estudios Revolucion, Cuba's President Raul Castro, left, greets Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, right, upon his arrival at the Jose Marti international airport in Havana, Cuba. -AP Photo

LA FRIA: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, said Thursday his cancer treatment has been successful and that he was free of the disease as he arrived home after medical tests in Cuba.

The test results “allow me to affirm that I am free of the disease,”declared Chavez, who flew directly from Havana to the town of La Fria, the site of a Catholic shrine.

The Venezuelan leader had a tumor extracted in June in Havana, and has since undergone four rounds of chemotherapy.

“A vital stage of the treatment of the disease ... has concluded,” said Chavez. The treatment, which combined surgery and chemotherapy, “had a successful conclusion,” he said.

Chavez however was more cautious than triumphant, warning that it “is necessary to continue monitoring in these cases.”

Chavez was set to make a pilgrimage to the shrine “to fulfill a promise.”On Wednesday Chavez said in a telephone interview broadcast on state VTV that he was “very active” in Havana and had been able to speak at length with Cuba's iconic former leader Fidel Castro.

Chavez, 57 and in power since 1999, has maintained that he will recover in time to win reelection in 2012.