Venezuela signaled Friday that cancer-stricken President Hugo Chavez will be unable to be sworn in to a new term next week, laying out a legal rationale for delaying the oath-taking ceremony.

Vice President Nicolas Maduro said the ailing leader could take the oath of office at some later date before the Supreme Court without giving up the presidency in the interim.

Hugo Chavez's top lieutenants accused the opposition and the media Thursday of using the cancer-stricken Venezuelan president's health to wage a "psychological war" to destabilize the country.

The hardline stance was adopted after Vice President Nicolas Maduro returned from a visit with the ailing Chavez in Cuba, where he is suffering from complications more than three weeks after undergoing cancer surgery.

Venezuela's main opposition movement demanded Wednesday that the government tell "the truth" about President Hugo Chavez's health as one of his closest allies said his condition was "very worrying."

"Let's hope our prayers will be effective in saving the life of brother President Chavez," Bolivian President Evo Morales said of the longtime leader of OPEC member Venezuela, which has the world's largest proven oil reserves.

Hugo Chavez is conscious and fully aware of how "complex" his condition remains three weeks after difficult cancer surgery in Havana, the Venezuelan president's handpicked successor said Tuesday.

Vice President Nicolas Maduro, who accused the Venezuelan right of spreading what he described as sick lies and rumors about Chavez's health, said that he had spoken to the ailing leader twice over the past three days.

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez has suffered a new setback after cancer surgery in Cuba, raising new fears about his political future, Vice President Nicolas Maduro said Sunday.

"We have been informed of new complications that arose as a consequence of the respiratory infection we already knew about," Maduro said on state TV and radio from Havana. Cuba is Chavez's closest regional ally.

Venezuelan Vice President Nicolas Maduro announced Friday that he will lead a government delegation to Cuba to visit President Hugo Chavez who was recovering in Havana following his December 11 cancer surgery.

In the announcement, Maduro did not specify how long the group would stay in Havana. But he said Electricity Minister Hector Navarro would assume the vice presidency during his absence.

Venezuela's ruling party and an opposition leader came to a rare agreement Monday, accepting that President Hugo Chavez's inauguration may be delayed if he is remains ill come January 10.

The firebrand leftist leader is experiencing a "slight improvement" in his condition as he follows doctors' orders to rest, Information Minister Ernesto Villegas said.

One of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's daughters took to social media to demand a halt to "lies" about her father's health after rumors circulated the cancer-embattled leader had died.

"Respect for the family and especially fully respect for my people. Enough of the lies! We are next to papa. LIVING, struggling and recovering his health. WITH GOD," Maria Gabriela Chavez wrote in a Twitter message Friday.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is making steady progress after cancer surgery in Cuba and the respiratory infection he developed earlier in the week has been contained, aides said Thursday.

"He's well, he's conscious," said Vice President Nicolas Maduro, speaking to dozens of supporters at the swearing-in ceremony for the newly-elected governor of the central state of Guarico.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is in "stable" condition after being diagnosed with a respiratory infection following his latest cancer surgery in Cuba, an official said Tuesday.

Communications Minister Ernesto Villegas said doctors had treated the infection and brought it under control, adding that it was a common consequence of "complicated surgeries" and that the ailing leader required "absolute rest."