Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has appeared on television with a shaved head after admitting his hair is falling out because of chemotherapy.
Chavez said his cancer treatment has been going well and joked that he was beginning to look like legendary bald actor Yul Brynner.
'It's a new look,' the President said at a cabinet meeting in Caracas, switching briefly into English with a grin.
Chavez had said he expected his hair to begin falling out as a result of the chemotherapy and this started on Sunday night in the bath.
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| Short back and sides: Hugo Chavez (left) after admitting he was losing his hair, compared to his usual cut (right) |
He underwent surgery in Cuba on June 20 to remove a cancerous tumour but refuses to say what type of cancer he has been diagnosed with or specified where it was located, only that it was in his pelvic region.
On Monday, he denied suggestions it was in the colon, the rectum or the bladder: 'None of that is true,' he said.
Chavez underwent an initial round of chemotherapy last month to prevent malignant cells from reappearing.
He said he is 'preparing myself for a second dose,' but didn't say how soon it would begin.
Chavez was animated during the ceremony where new ministers were appointed, breaking into song, talking about German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche and recalling an illustrated magazine he enjoyed reading as a child.
He held up a black-and-white photo of himself as a toddler next to his brother, Adan, and joked: 'I have the same haircut.'
The 57-year-old leader, a former army officer, said earlier in a phone call on state television that he had asked for a 'military cut' as his hair began to fall out.
'I went to bathe and a bit of hair fell out, and last night we called the barber,' said Chavez, whose head bore a few small hairless patches.
© Daily Mail, London |
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