CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President Hugo Chavez is in full control of his mental faculties and has been talking with his children and getting daily visits from Fidel Castro while recovering slowly from cancer surgery in Cuba, his son-in-law said Saturday.

Chavez has been recovering favorably despite some “moments of tension” after Tuesday’s surgery and is now in a “process of stabilization,” Science and Technology Minister Jorge Arreaza said on Venezuelan television in a phone call from Havana.