A cancerous tumor was discovered in Luiz Inacio da Silva’s larynx on Saturday. Hugo Chavez, the president of Venezuela, is familiar with the health crisis that Silva, the former Brazilian leader, currently faces. Chavez has had problems with cancer in the past; he has been recovering from chemotherapy and a previous surgery in June, where a malignant tumor was removed from his pelvic region.

Chavez sent a message of solidarity to the former Brazilian president in response to his diagnosis on Sunday and expressed hope for a speedy recovery from the chemotherapy Silva would soon be undergoing. Silva is considered to be in good condition and his chemotherapy and treatment will begin on an outpatient basis.

His diagnosis undermined speculation that he would be running for president again in 2014. During his previous presidential reign, Silva was responsible for the unemployment rate dropping to a record low, cutting the country’s inflation rate by more than half, and bringing up 21 million Brazilians from poverty. He was the most popular Brazilian president ever and served two presidential terms.

Though he stepped down as president, Silva still participates in politics and is the honorary head of the Worker’s Party. His successor, Dilma Rousseff, continues to consult him over political matters. She, too, was treated for cancer in 2009. Doctors informed Finance Minister Guido Mantega that Silva’s cancer was caught in its early stages.

It is possible for throat cancer to be cured in 90 percent of the people diagnosed with it, as long as it is caught early. Smoking and excessively drinking increase the risk of throat cancer. Silva has admitted to smoking in the past. If the cancer pervades into the lymph nodes and surrounding tissues, only 60 percent of patients can be cured.

Rousseff is confident that Silva will make a complete recovery. She survived having lymphoma herself. Silva’s tumor is not large, according to Artur Katz, the oncologist treating Silva. It measures between two and three centimeters. Chavez commented that he will be praying for Silva’s recovery and will closely follow his medical situation, just as Silva did when Chavez was battling cancer.

Chavez claims to be free of cancer now, but a Venezuelan doctor who treated him in the past insists he only has a couple of years to live. The doctor has since fled the country out of fear for his life, and Chavez denies his claims and denounces him as a liar. Silva’s physician, Dr. Roberto Kalil, says that the Brazilian leader is meeting this challenge with a positive attitude.

“He’s very calm. Obviously, at first, there was anxiety, a shock. He arrived in excellent spirits, in his usual way, extremely confident,” said Kalil. It will take around 40 days to observe how Silva’s tumor will respond to chemotherapy.

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Brazil Supreme Court decision to reject extradition for the Italian ex terrorist Cesare Battisti could have heavy consequences on diplomatic relations between Italy and Brazil.

The sentence passed by the Brazilian Court just confirmed the decision of December 2010 of the former President Luiz Inàcio Lula da Silva, who announced on his last effective day as president his refusal to extradite Battisti.

Franco Frattini, Italy’s foreign minister, has defined the sentence of release shameful, and he said it was like “a slap in the face of the whole democratic world that fights terrorism”. The fist reaction of Italy was the recall of its ambassador in Brasilia Gherardo La Francesca, to discuss and study in depth the judicial bilateral agreements between the two countries, and to decide the steps to take to reverse the decision.

“What we have failed to achieve through the national judicial route we can achieve through the international judicial route,” declared the Foreign Minister announcing Italy’s intention to appeal to The Hague International Court of Justice. Also Italian President Giorgio Napolitano, and other Italian officials and politicians, condemned and criticized the Brazilian Supreme Court decision.

Brazilian former President Lula da Silva, cancelled his official visit to Italy this week, to avoid possible protests and disorders. During the Beach Volley World Championship, which is now taking place in Italy, a group of Italian protesters threw oranges at the Brazilian national team players, as a sign of disappointment for the decision on Battisti’s case.

Cesare Battisti, member of the Italian far-left militant group, Armed Proletarians for Communism (PAC) during the turbulent period of the so-called “anni di piombo” (years of lead), has been convicted of four murders committed in the ‘70s and sentenced to life imprisonment by the Italian Court. He escaped from Italy in 1981, after the first sentence for participation in armed group, first to France and later to Mexico, where he devoted himself to the writer activity. He returned to France in 1990 where he spent several years as a free man until 2004, when after the French government decided to arrest him and extradite him, he escaped to Brazil. There he was arrested in 2007, and in 2009 Brazilian government granted him the status of political refugee, until their final decision and subsequent release on 9^th of June.

During all the years he was in hiding, Battisti always denied having committed any of the murders he was charged with. His defending counsels challenge the decision of the Italian Court, asserting that there isn’t any proof of Battisti’s guilt, and that the sentence was based only on the declarations of Pietro Mutti, a militant of PAC who accused his fellow PAC member in order to obtain a penalty reduction for himself. Many intellectuals, writers, journalists, politicians and NGOs’ representatives in several countries supported and still support Cesare Battisti.

On the contrary, the relatives of the victims and some politicians in Italy now express outrage and push to reverse the decision of the Brazilian Court. Meanwhile in Rome the protests goes on; vice-minister of transports Roberto Castelli, refused to sign the air transports bilateral agreement with Brazil, as “a sign of protest towards a country which showed no respect for Italy,” he said.

The relations between the two countries seem to be deteriorating more and more as a result of the Battisti Case’s conclusion.

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