* Hospital run by Cuban Interior Ministry

* Considered the best in communist-run Cuba

* VIP facilities off limits to most staff

HAVANA, Jan 14 (Reuters) - You would never guess that one of

the world's most famous heads of state, Venezuelan president and

self-proclaimed revolutionary Hugo Chavez, is battling cancer at

Havana's Center for Medical-Surgical Research (CIMEQ).

At the weekend there was no visible increase in security at

the hospital's main entrance, where guards in olive green

uniforms checked the comings and goings of visitors and waved on

dallying reporters.

The sprawling, three story complex that is run by the Cuban

Interior Ministry is located in leafy Siboney, one of the

country's most exclusive neighborhoods on the western edge of

the Cuban capital, and just minutes from the home of Fidel

Castro.

It has been a month since the once feisty and now

cancer-stricken Chavez, leader of one of the world's biggest oil

producing nations, was operated on for a fourth time at the

hospital. This time around, there have been no glowing reports

of recovery.................................................................................

Little is known about the hospital's VIP accommodations,

where Chavez is being treated, except that they are equipped

with the latest technology and that those who work there are

often sequestered for periods of time. Like all CIMEQ staff,

they are sworn to secrecy at the risk of losing their licenses

and criminal prosecution.

"The VIPs are treated on the third floor which is off limits

to most staff even if they work for the Interior Ministry and

wear uniforms under their white coats," a doctor who has worked

at CIMEQ said.

"The elevators to the third floor have guards and if the

patient goes outside part of the grounds are closed off," he

said, adding, "no one knows what goes on up there."

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