Starting from today all tobacco products going out to public must contain written and graphic warning labels about health related risks for the potential consumers. A new law extends for the actual products and commercials.

The law was confirmed back in April 2012. According to the Ministry of Health, tobacco smoking causes over 40,000 annual deaths in Argentina. Until now, cigarette packs included phrases like “Smoking is harmful to health”, which were not strong enough to prevent their massive consumption.

New written warnings contain phrases that respond to the standards of the World Health Organisation, such as: “Smoking causes cancer”, “Smoking causes emphysema” etc.

Mario Virgolini, a coordinator of the National Tabacco Control Programme in the Ministry of Health, brings examples of other countries like Brazil and Canada, where the strong messages on cigarette packs “stimulated the smokers to give up smoking”. He adds that the new messages “help to raise aware about the damage that a smoking habit causes, as the consumer faces another reality.”

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos appeared at his hospital window on Thursday announcing to the media that his operation “went very well”.

Santos, 61, underwent an operation on Wednesday after he made public that he was suffering from prostate cancer in a surprise announcement on Monday.

“Luckily I am recovering well” said Santos, who also took time to thank the numerous support messages he has received in the last few days. Among those who have contacted Santos to wish him a full recovery are Spanish Prime-Minister Mariano Rajoy and Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez.

A statement released by the medical team treating Santos read “the patient is active and presents stable vital signals. In accordance with the recovery plan, he will remain in the hospital today”.

It is believed Santos will be discharged from the hospital in the next few days, and will finish his recovery at the presidential palace. He has not delegated his responsibilities to Vice-President Angelino Garzón as he only underwent local anaesthesia.

Garzón went to visit the president before undergoing a medical examination himself as he is recovering from mobility problems caused by a cerebrovascular accident.

Garzón’s examination was demanded by the Colombian Senate to see if he is able to fulfil his obligations as vice-president. His own health issues have taken on an added significance following Santos’ announcement.

Santos, whose mandate runs until 2014, adds to the surprisingly long list of Latin American leaders to be diagnosed with cancer in recent years joining Chávez and former presidents Lugo, from Paraguay, and Lula, from Brazil.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos will have a prostate cancer operation in Bogotá on Wednesday, he announced today, after discovering a benign tumor last week.

In a speech today, accompanied by his wife, he said will spend a few das at the clinic after the operation but will not abandon his duties as president.

“Fortunately, the cancer was discovered in time,” he said. “But I want to make sure all Colombians have examinations to prevent these diseases.”

President Santos said one of his brothers had the same illness and was able to overcome. He also confirmed that he would be gong to Peru for the South America-Arab Summit (ASPA).

“My doctors have been clear, the situation does not compromise my physical or mental state,” he said.

The president’s doctor said his tumor is isolated and the process will not require chemotherapy or radiation.

“The president is in great health. And if things to as they should, he will be back to his regular job soon.”

After spending 12 days in Cuba receiving another round of cancer treatments, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez returned to Caracas today.

The president landed in Caracas at dawn local time, but rather than making a customary address through the media, merely announced that he had spent his return flight from Havana with Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro discussing labour law.

Chávez hinted from Havana on Monday that he would be back today, but that he would be returning to Havana again for a fifth and final round of treatment in the near future.

Chávez received his first treatment in June of last year, when a tumour was removed, however details of the president’s illness have not been fully disclosed over the past year. Ahead of October’s presidential elections, the lack of information has at times prompted concern among citizens as to the status of Chávez’s health and his ability to govern in the future.

Speaking on national television yesterday, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez once again dismissed rumours of poor health.

The audio of his voice via phone was broadcast throughout Venezuela. Pictures of him playing baseball and walking around were released yesterday on Twitter by Communication and Information Minister Andrés Izarra.

“These are harsh treatments and one must rise to them with will, strength, faith and lots of rest,” Chávez said in the broadcast.

The messages from the president come after Venezuelan journalist Nelson Bocaranda wrote on the subject this weekend. The reporter also Tweeted that he heard Saturday was Chávez’s hardest day since he was first diagnosed in June 2011, because he now knows “the full truth of his cancer.”

During the past few weeks, Chávez has been missing from the media scene in Venezuela, prompting rumours over social media about his poor health or even death.

Two weeks ago, Bocaranda wrote on his blog that Chávez’s cancer was far more serious than the president was letting on, noting that it had moved to the liver, with “possible extensions to the pancreas, kidney, pelvic cavity and lower muscles.”

Concern over Hugo Chávez’s latest session of cancer treatment in Cuba has arisen after a distinct silence from the usually vocal president.

With his only communication coming from his Twitter page, discussion of Chávez’s health has been rife on social networking sites over the weekend. In previous sessions in Cuba, Chávez had periodically appeared on television, suggesting that he was still working despite his absence.

Many Venezuelans believe the president’s silence may be an indication of poor health or even death, or a particularly difficult stage in his cancer treatment, which Chávez himself had predicted.

The silence comes despite governmental promises that Venezuelans would be kept up to date with the president’s health. The specific nature of the cancer, as well as the location of the tumour has so far been kept secret, fuelling the rumours surrounding the president’s health.

However, ministers of the Socialist Party have denied the false rumours. The president of the National Assembly, Diosdado Cabello has stressed that Chávez is making a full recovery.

Speaking from his Twitter page, Cabello added: “People have been saying for days that the president is dead, here – the only thing that is dead is the opposition.”

Since the 24^th March, Chávez has been undergoing the final stage of his cancer treatment in Cuba, a month after an operation on a tumour in the pelvic area.

Venezuelan journalist Nelson Bocaranda wrote in his blog today that Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez’s cancer is serious, as it is spreading to the liver and his radiation therapy has given him third-degree burns.

Bocaranda wrote that the cancer had moved to the liver, with “possible extensions to the pancreas, kidney, pelvic cavity and lower muscles.”

For his part, on his return to Caracas after a new round of cancer treatments in Cuba, the president said yesterday, “I am well – very well.”

“Coming from Havana, to meet with another round of radiation treatment, there we went forward into battle [against the cancer], moving with great faith, recovering and in recuperation,” he said during a national television and radio broadcast.

Chávez has been fighting cancer for more than a year. He has had multiple operations, claiming he was cured as well. Recently, there have been rumours swirling that the cancer is “diffused throughout the body.”

Hugo Chávez announced that he will be returning to his home country within the next few days. The Venezuelan president has been in Havana, Cuba since late February, undergoing surgery to remove a cancerous tumor.

“The president has been in a very good mood on the cusp of his return this week,” announced the communication and information minister Andres Izarra via Twitter.

Izarra additionally posted photos of the president in seemingly high spirits on Monday, during a birthday celebration for Maria Gabriela, one of Chávez’s daughters.

Since the president’s admission to the Cuban hospital, he has kept in close contact with government officials, who have relayed the information to Venezuelan news sources.

“In the next few hours I’ll be there,” he told vice president Elías Jaua in a telephone call that was transmitted by the state. “We are making adjustments, but in the next days I will be listening to the roosters, throwing food to the parrot … and working toward the happiness of our people.”

Chávez underwent surgery on 26 February, for what he described as a tumor recurrence. The president was diagnosed with cancer last June, and has since received several rounds of chemotherapy. He has now begun further radiation therapy in Cuba.

Chávez has repeatedly assured the public that he plans to promptly resume his campaign for reelection on October 7. If successful, it will be the president’s third consecutive term.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez today used Twitter to blow away mounting clouds of speculations around his health conditions, after his third surgery to remove an alleged ‘incurable’ tumor.

“A very good night, my beloved compatriots! I’m here, flying high like a condor! I send you my upmost love! We will live and win,” tweeted Chávez around midnight, in his peculiar communicative fashion.

On Tuesday, Venezuelan doctor Jose Rafael Marquina, believed to be close to the President’s entourage, arose negative conjectures about the Venezuelan President’s health by tweeting that “any kind of intervention in Hugo Chávez case is totally useless, as the disease is diffused throughout the body.”

Mr. Marquina, who defined himself as an “anti-comunist professor,” expert in Medical Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Medicine, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, also added: “The fact that Hugo Chávez has extended tumor necrosis (cellular death) makes the prognosis worse than expected.”

In addition, he questioned a chain of errors in treatment, from wrong chemotherapy to an excess of steroids administration, which could have led to metastasis.

Quoting a Brazilian doctor, a Venezuelan journalist, Nelson Bocaranda, also wrote about “counterproductive treatments” that might have endangered Chávez’ health. WikiLeaks cables recently published revealed that, according to Russian and Cuban doctors, the Venezuelan President has less than two years of life left to live.

Venezuelan Minister of Communication, Isis Ochoa, called the official statements released by the government “transparent”, admitting also that there are some information that have not been yet released “as they are risky from the point of view of the leader’s personal safety, given his enemies speculations.”

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez is undergoing surgery for cancer in Havana today. Cuban doctors will operate on a lesion in the pelvic region, the same area that the president was treated for cancer last year.

In typical Chavez fashion, the treatment has been surrounded by rumours, with the details of his cancer notoriously being kept secret. It was confirmed on Wednesday that the president would travel for an operation.

In a nationally televised address, Chavez called the relapse a “terrible ambush”, but was adamant that this would not affect his standing for office in October.

“On the contrary, this setback that we have to face collectively should further strengthen … the revolutionary Bolivarian ideology,” he said.

In June 2011, the self-proclaimed leader of the Bolivarian revolution underwent surgery in Cuba twice for cancer. The two left-wing countries have enjoyed a special relationship ever since Chavez came to power in 1999. Under the Venezuelan government programme, Mission Barrio Adentro, Cuban doctors provide free healthcare in Venezuela, in exchange for cheaper oil.

Despite the illness, Chavez, 57, will stand for re-election in October after governing the country for 11 years. He has continuously faced criticism for his method of rule and authoritarian tendencies. His opposition is Henrique Capriles, a former state governor, who after wining primaries in early February, is backed by a coalition of opposition parties.