Venezuela's vice president says that President Hugo Chavez is fighting for his life while he continues to undergo treatment more than two months after his latest cancer surgery.

Vice President Nicolas Maduro said on television Thursday that, in his words, Chavez "is battling there for his health, for his life, and we're accompanying him." The vice president has used similar phrasing in the past.

Chavez hasn't spoken publicly since before his latest cancer operation in Cuba on Dec. 11. He returned to Venezuela on Feb. 18 and has been undergoing more treatment at a military hospital in Caracas.