Candelight vigil for Venezuela's Chavez HUNDREDS of Venezuelans have held a candlelight vigil for President Hugo Chavez, praying for their leader while he remained in a hospital undergoing cancer treatment. Chavez's supporters gathered on Friday night on a wide stairway in a hillside park near the presidential palace. They lit candles at sunset and sang along with a recording of a healthy Chavez belting out the national anthem. Some wiped away tears. Others closed their eyes and prayed. Some said they felt sad, yet still hopeful that Chavez might be able to survive. "We're praying for the president, for him to get through all of this," said Ana Perez, a seamstress holding a candle and shielding her flame from the breeze with a piece of paper. Her eyes filled with tears as she talked about Chavez. There is no other president like this one. He's unique," she said, wiping a wet cheek. "He's going to come out of all of this, and he's going to get better," Perez said. He's survived many hard things. He's strong. Chavez hasn't been seen since he returned to Venezuela on Monday from Cuba, where for 10 weeks he was recovering and fighting complications following his latest cancer surgery December 11. Vice President Nicolas Maduro said that he and other officials had met with Chavez at the military hospital. Maduro said Chavez is continuing to undergo treatment for "respiratory insufficiency" and is breathing through a tracheal tube, which hinders speech. "He communicated with us through various written ways to give us his guidance," Maduro said, speaking on television alongside other aides at the hospital. Maduro said Chavez was smiling and in an energetic mood, "with an immense strength of will." The government has not given details about the treatment Chavez is undergoing, and hasn't identified the type or exact location of the tumours that have been removed from his pelvic region. Venezuela's opposition has demanded the government provide more specific information about Chavez's condition, and has criticised a decision by MPs last month that indefinitely postponed his swearing-in ceremony for a new six-year term. Two prominent Venezuelan jurists asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to determine whether Chavez is fit to remain in office. Former Supreme Court President Cecilia Sosa Gomez and professor Jose Vicente Haro called for the court to appoint a board of medical experts to determine whether Chavez is in physical and mental shape to remain president. They argued that if Chavez is fit to be president, the court should proceed to hold a public swearing-in.