There have been rumors going around that Venezuela President Hugo Chávez had died, but reports have come out to the contrary.

The country’s vice president reportedly said on Thursday that he is “still fighting for his life,” and according to the AP, the majority of Venezuelans polled believe he’ll actually return to power.

According to VP, Nicolás Maduro, Chávez “is battling there for his health,” and “for his life”.

On Friday, senior aides and relatives of Chávez also spoke out to counter the rumors of his death. Reuters quotes some of them:

“There he is, continuing his fight, his battle, and we are sure of victory!” his brother Adan Chavez, the governor of Barinas state, told cheering supporters during an event.

“The launching of absurd and bizarre rumors by the right wing simply discredits them and isolates them further from the people,” Chavez’s son-in-law Jorge Arreaza, who is also Venezuela’s science minister, said via Twitter.

Chávez reportedly underwent his fourth surgery for cancer in December, and has not been seen in public since, though he is said to have gone to a military hospital in Caracas last week.