Chávez returns to Venezuela

CARACAS, Venezuela -- Hugo Chávez returned to Venezuela early yesterday after more than two months of treatment in Cuba following cancer surgery, his government said, triggering street celebrations by supporters who welcomed their president home. He remained out of sight at Caracas' military hospital.

Chávez's return was announced in a series of three messages on his Twitter account, the first of them reading: "We've arrived once again in our Venezuelan homeland. Thank you, my God!! Thank you, beloved nation!! We will continue our treatment here."

They were the first messages to appear on his Twitter account since Nov. 1.

"I'm clinging to Christ and trusting in my doctors and nurses," another tweet said. "Onward toward victory always!! We will live and we will triumph!!"

Vice President Nicolas Maduro said on television that Chávez arrived at 2:30 a.m. and was taken to the Dr. Carlos Arvelo Military Hospital in Caracas for continued treatment.

The comandate's announced return came less than three days after the government released the first photos of him in more than two months, showing him in Havana, looking bloated and smiling alongside his daughters. No additional images of Chávez were issued on his arrival in Caracas, and questions remain about where he stands in a difficult and prolonged struggle with an undisclosed type of pelvic cancer.

Chávez was re-elected to a new six-year term in October, and his inauguration Jan. 10 was postponed indefinitely by lawmakers in a decision that the Supreme Court upheld despite complaints by the opposition.