MOSCOW, December 31 (RIA Novosti) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has suffered new complications to his health following a cancer surgery in Cuba earlier in the month, BBC reported on Monday.

Chavez underwent his fourth operation to remove cancerous tissue in Cuba on December 11, but he collected a respiratory infection.

“We have been informed of new complications that arose as a consequence of the respiratory infection we already knew about,” BBC quoted Venezuelan Vice President Nicolas Maduro as saying.

Maduro did not give further details, saying only the state of Chavez’s health “presented complications that are being treated in a process not without risk.”

Chavez, 58, who has ruled Venezuela for 13 years, underwent three operations for cancer and four courses of chemotherapy in Cuba and Venezuela within a year. He agreed to the fourth surgery after recent tests had revealed malignant cells.

He is scheduled to be inaugurated to a new six-year presidential term on January 10, 2013.