No return date set for Chavez return

Ailing Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has no scheduled date to return home from Cuba despite an "encouraging" report on his health, Communications Minister Ernesto Villegas said Tuesday. Villegas said the report on Chavez's health by his son-in-law, Technology Minister Jorge Arreaza, "has been very encouraging." But speaking after a cabinet meeting, Villegas added: "No date is set for his (Chavez's) return yet." Earlier Tuesday, Bolivia's President Evo Morales said Chavez was in physical therapy preparing for his return from Cuba, where he has been convalescing following his fourth round of cancer surgery last month. The Venezuelan leader has not been seen since December 10, but in recent days officials have said his health has improved despite complications from the surgery. Villegas said the president "is attentive to the developments in Venezuela," and said Chavez had exchanged impressions on the situation in the country on Monday with Foreign Minister Elias Jaua. "He has been in very good spirits, he shared jokes with the foreign minister," he said. His remarks echoed a message on Jaua's Twitter account Monday which said: "We shared some jokes and laughed." "He made decisions on our participation in the CELAC Summit. So happy we are moving forward," added Jaua, referring to an upcoming summit of Latin American and Caribbean States this week in the Chilean capital Santiago.