Chavez Pitches Softball, Denies Kidney Failure

After reports surfaced that Hugo Chavez had suffered kidney failure earlier this week, the Venezuelan president summoned reporters to the presidential palace in Caracas. They found Chavez wearing a red tracksuit, jogging, and throwing a baseball around with members of his cabinet, the Guardian reports. "I'm fine. Those who don't love me and wish me ill, well, bad luck," he said, slamming the "morbid and inhumane" speculation about his health.

Chavez, who recently returned from a round of chemotherapy in Cuba, said he is recovering well and will be in good shape for next year's election. "I had cancer. It was in a ball, contained," he said, throwing the baseball in the air. He refused to disclose exactly what kind of cancer he has been fighting. "What is it you want?" he asked. "Do you want me to get out my tumor, to show you what kind of cancer it is? Well, I won't." (More Hugo Chavez stories.)