Chavez in best moment since cancer surgery: Venezuela VP

Venezuelan Vice President Nicolas Maduro says Hugo Chavez’s condition has improved and he is now in his “best moment” since undergoing cancer surgery in Cuba in December.

After visiting Chavez in Havana on Saturday, Maduro said, “The president has entered the phase of complementary treatment in order to combat his illness.”

He added that Chavez was “optimistic and has a lot of faith in what we are doing” and was “clinging to Christ and life.”

Elected by Chavez to rule in his absence, Maduro has been leading the government since the new term started on January 10, 2013. The Venezuelan Supreme Court unanimously decided that the current government could remain in office until Chavez takes oath.

Chavez, who came to power in 1999, was reelected to a new six-year term in October.

The 58-year-old Venezuelan president traveled to Havana on December 10 for a fourth operation following the recurrence of his cancer.

Chavez’s first tumor, a baseball-sized, was removed in June 2011. In February 2012 a second cancerous tumor was removed from his pelvic region. He began radiation therapy in Cuba in late March 2012.