Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez made a surprise return to his homeland on Monday after a 10-week convalescence in Cuba following cancer surgery, a long absence that had raised doubts among his opponents and even some supporters about who was running the oil-rich nation.
"We have arrived back in the Venezuelan fatherland," Chavez announced via Twitter after arriving in Caracas. "Thank you, my God! Thank you, my beloved people!"
The president's arrival in Caracas in the predawn hours appeared designed to stanch rising indignation by opposition leaders critical of the secrecy surrounding Chavez's health and suspicious about claims made by high government officials that he has been involved in the day-to-day decisions of state.