HAVANA – Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa underwent successful surgery on his right knee at a hospital in the Cuban capital, members of his delegation told Efe here Friday.

“The doctor who performed the operation around 12:00 p.m. was the eminent Cuban Prof. Rodrigo Alvarez Cambras. He told us that the president’s surgery was successful and that he will begin the process of recovery immediately,” Ecuadorian Ambassador Edgar Ponce said.

Correa announced last Saturday his upcoming trip to Cuba and said that he had to be operated on the island because the surgery required is not performed in Ecuador.

The president, who will return to Quito in the middle of next week, was operated the first time in Havana last September, at which time, he said, the decision was taken to perform “another operation” for a “cartilage implant.”

At that time he met with Cuba’s president, Gen. Raul Castro, and with his brother and predecessor, Fidel, the first secretary of the ruling Communist Party, and spent several days resting on the island with his family.

The Cuban government and the media, all controlled by the state, have not as yet mentioned Correa’s visit. EFE