Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is working on government issues and is "very energetic" despite being hospitalized and breathing through a tube, his aide said on Saturday.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is working on government issues and is "very energetic" despite being hospitalized and breathing through a tube, his aide said on Saturday.

"The president continues to breathe through a tracheal tube, but he is able to communicate with us through written notes and give us instructions," Vice President Nicolas Maduro told local television.

He said he spent more than five hours with Chavez in his hospital room on Friday, and was able to discuss several issues, specifically military affairs and the economy.
"He was very energetic, had a lot of spirit and vitality, and that's what we wanted to tell the people despite the late hour," Maduro said.

The aide’s announcement comes after Chavez returned on Monday to Caracas from cancer surgery in Cuba. However he has not been seen or heard from since that day.
Chavez had declared himself free of cancer after earlier rounds of surgery and went on to win another six-year term in October elections.

But he later suffered a relapse and after the latest surgery in Havana on
December 11, he was too sick to return to Venezuela for his scheduled inauguration on January 10.