CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez made his first live communication with his country’s news media in nearly a week Thursday, saying he was in good shape and recovering quickly from tumor surgery in Cuba.

In a five-minute phone conversation broadcast on state television, Chavez said he was active, eating well and even working just days after the operation to remove a possibly cancerous growth.

“I am doing well. Since the day before yesterday I am walking, roaming the hallways. I am on a good diet,” Chavez said from Havana. “Right now I’m preparing for the midday walk and later some pumpkin soup.

“I got up early at 6 in the morning and was walking around like an old soldier. I signed some papers a while ago,” he said by phone to an official at an event in the western state of Zulia. “We’re here in battle, and sooner rather than later I will be with you physically as well.”