Update to this story.

(CNN) — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is fighting a new infection, and his breathing problems have worsened, Information Minister Ernesto Villegas said late Monday.

“There is a worsening of the respiratory function,” he said, reading an official statement on state-run VTV.

Villegas reported Chavez is battling a new and “severe” infection, stressing that his overall condition remains “delicate.”

Chavez, who first announced his cancer diagnosis in 2011, spent more than two months in treatment in Cuba and has previously suffered respiratory insufficiency. He returned to Venezuela two weeks ago.

The government has never specified what kind of cancer Chavez has.