Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has been diagnosed with respiratory infection but is now in a stable condition, Information Minister Ernesto Villegas said on TV on Wednesday, according to RIA Novosti.

The situation “is under control,” Villegas said, adding that the president’s general condition was “stable”.

He said that such conditions are frequent in patients who are recovering from complicated surgeries.

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Chavez, 58, underwent a fourth operation that lasted more than six hours to remove malignant cancer cells last Tuesday. He is scheduled to be inaugurated to a new six-year presidential term on January 10, 2013.

Venezuelan doctor Jose Rafael Marquina, who is based in the United States and is known for his accurate prognoses on Chavez’s health, told RCN radio that the disease has entered an aggressive stage and Chavez has "between two and three months to live."