Havana, Apr 16 (IANS/EFE): Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is in Cuba again for more radiation therapy after he was operated on in February for a new cancerous tumour.

Cuban media reported Sunday that Chavez had returned to the island, where he was greeted by the country's first vice president, Jose Ramon Machado Ventura, in contrast to earlier occasions on which President Raul Castro had awaited him on the tarmac of the Jose Marti international airport.

The Venezuelan leader's latest trip to the island comes just three days after he had returned to his country after receiving his third round of radiation therapy.

On the recommendation of his doctors, Chavez decided to travel directly to Cuba without making a detour through Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, where the 6th Summit of the Americas is being held this weekend.

Chavez Saturday received the permission of the Venezuelan National Assembly to travel abroad for more than five days, which he had requested so that he could undergo the next session in the five-round series of radiation therapy in Cuba.

The Venezuelan president underwent surgery Feb 26 in Cuba to remove a tumour, a recurrence of the cancer for which he was operated on last June. The only detail about the initial surgery that has been officially announced is that the original tumour was located in Chavez's pelvic region.

Since June 2011, when his cancer was first detected in Cuba and he underwent two operations, Chavez has returned to the island on numerous occasions to receive chemotherapy, undergo medical checkups and evaluations and pursue his radiation therapy regimen.