KRGV.com

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) Venezuela's government has revealed for the first time that President Hugo Chavez has been receiving chemotherapy as he "continues his battle for life."

Vice President Nicolas Maduro told reporters after a Mass for Chavez late Friday that doctors began chemotherapy treatment for the cancer-stricken socialist leader after he recovered from a respiratory infection in mid-January.

Maduro did not specify what treatments Chavez is currently receiving.

The government says Chavez was flown back to Caracas on Feb. 18 and has been at the city's military hospital since.

Chavez has not been seen nor heard from since his Dec. 11 surgery in Cuba for an unspecified cancer in the pelvic region. He first revealed his cancer in June 2011, and previously reported undergoing radiation treatment and chemotherapy.