Venezuela says Chavez is improving

NEW: High-ranking officials visit Cuba, where the president is undergoing cancer treatment "The general medical evolution has been favorable," the government says Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, 58, has not been seen in public for weeks (CNN) -- A lung infection afflicting Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has been controlled, and his health is progressing positively, the government said Sunday. "In spite of the delicate state of his health ... the general medical evolution has been favorable in recent days," it said in a statement that was published by state news. The government added that the president, who is undergoing cancer treatment in Cuba, is conscious and in contact with his family and his political and medical advisers. Chavez, 58, has not made a public appearance since doctors operated on him a month ago. The long absence is not typical of the loquacious leader, who missed his own inauguration last week. After the operation, a government spokesman said Chavez was battling a severe lung infection that caused respiratory failure. Though the infection has been controlled, the president will continue to require "specific measures to solve respiratory insufficiency," read the Sunday statement. The communique came the same weekend various high-level officials visited Cuba, including Venezuelan Vice President Nicolas Maduro; Diosdado Cabello, the head of the National Assembly; and Oil and Mining Minister Rafael Ramirez, state news reported. Before he left for Cuba, Chavez said he wanted Maduro to assume the presidency if he becomes incapacitated and called on voters to support him at the polls. Neither Chavez nor the government has said what type of cancer he has, and speculation about his health has surged in recent weeks. Supporters take loyalty oath as Chavez misses inauguration Security Clearance: Waiting for a post-Chavez Venezuela Looser travel restrictions take effect in Cuba if(typeof CNN.expElements==='object'){CNN.expElements.init();} CNN's Dana Ford contributed to this report.