VP: Ailing Chavez making progress

CARACAS (AFP) – President Hugo Chavez is making progress as he recovers from cancer surgery in Cuba, his vice president said Tuesday after  returning from a trip to Havana to visit the Venezuelan leader.

Chavez, who has been battling complications since undergoing surgery more than a month ago, is “climbing the hill, he is advancing,” said Vice President Nicolas Maduro.

People attend a mass for the health of President Chavez in Havana.AFP

Maduro, who returned overnight after a three-day visit to Havana, said he and other top officials had spoken with Chavez over the past few days about  national matters in the country with the world’s largest proven oil reserves.

“We saw him up until yesterday,” Maduro told a governors’ meeting, adding that they had updated the ailing leader on “how our people are progressing.”

The government’s most recent status report on Chavez’s health said he had shown improvement in recent days but is still suffering from a “respiratory

insufficiency” caused by a severe pulmonary infection.