Hugo Chavez is "undergoing alternative treatments" for cancer, Venezuela's vice president says. "They are complex and difficult treatments that must, at some point, end the cycle of his illness," said Nicolas Maduro of the country's president on state TV. Following difficulties after surgery, Chavez is in a "new phase" of recovery, the government has said. But the president still hasn't emerged publicly since heading to Cuba for surgery in December, Reuters notes. (More Hugo Chavez stories.)