New photos of hospitalized Hugo Chávez released

QUITO, Ecuador -- After being off the radar for more than two months, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez reappeared Friday, posing in Valentine's Day snapshots in Cuba that sent his supporters to the streets and ramped up opposition criticism of the government's secrecy.

The administration released four pictures of the cancer-stricken comandante and said he's conscious and alert but having trouble speaking due to a tracheal tube that is assisting his breathing.

It was the first view that Venezuelans have had of the president since he was shown boarding the presidential aircraft Dec. 10 headed for cancer surgery in Havana.

The news that Chavez has been muted riled passions in Venezuela. "Just a few days ago those liars said they were talking to the president," Miranda Gov. Henrique Capriles wrote on Twitter. "Now they say that he can't even speak. They are making a mockery of their own people."

In previous weeks, officials had described Chavez, 58, as laughing and cracking jokes from his hospital bed in Havana, where he's recovering from a fourth round of cancer surgery. Despite the upbeat reports, the president has not called in to radio shows, as he's done in the past, and hasn't made any appearances.

The government said the pictures were taken Thursday, as Chavez's two daughters visited for Valentine's Day. His face looks full and he's smiling. There's no sign of the tube.