MEXICO, February 2 (RIA Novosti) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has completed his post-surgery recovery and entered “a new stage of treatment,” Vice President Nicolas Maduro said on Saturday.

“Fortunately, the post-surgery cycle is now over, and the president has entered a new stage of his treatment, gradually recovering and getting stronger,” the vice president was quoted as saying by Venezuelan media.

Chavez, 58, who has ruled Venezuela for 13 years, has had four operations for cancer and four courses of chemotherapy in Cuba and Venezuela within a year. His fourth operation, to remove cancerous tissue, took place in Cuba on December 11.

His inauguration was slated for January 11, but he was unable to attend due to health reasons. On January 9, Venezuela’s Supreme Court ruled to postpone Chavez’s inauguration until he has completed his latest round of treatment.