Chavez returns after treatment in Cuba
Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez has arrived back home in Caracas after 10 days of medical treatment in Cuba.
State television showed images of Mr Chavez arriving at Caracas airport and walking down the steps of the presidential jet wearing a tracksuit.
Mr Chavez smiled and laughed heartily as he chatted with members of his cabinet including vice president Nicolas Maduro.
Mr Chavez travelled to Cuba on the night of November 27 after announcing plans to undergo hyperbaric oxygen treatment in Havana.
The Venezuelan leader has spent much of the past 18 months fighting pelvic cancer; he said several months ago that he was cancer-free.
While in Cuba, he kept a low profile and did not speak on television. Mr Chavez last appeared publicly during a televised meeting on November 15 in Caracas, and his long absence had renewed speculation among some Venezuelans that his health might be taking a turn for the worse.
But Mr Chavez appeared vigorous as he spoke on television upon his arrival before 3am. He did not mention his health, instead focusing on his gladness at being back.
“I’m very happy, as you all can see, to be arriving here again,” Mr Chavez said. “Very happy.”
Mr Chavez noted that Thursday marked two months since his October 7 re-election win. Addressing Mr Maduro and recalling other election victories, Mr Chavez said: “Look at how we’ve come, Nicolas, from victory to victory.”
Mr Chavez has not given details recently about the hyperbaric oxygen treatment, during which patients breathe pure oxygen while in a pressurised, sealed chamber.
The treatment’s value is well-established for treating burns and some other medical conditions, and to aid wound healing and help repair bone and tissue damaged by radiation treatments.
The 58-year-old president first underwent cancer surgery in Cuba in June 2011 and later underwent another surgery in February. He has also undergone chemotherapy and radiation treatments, and has since said that tests show he has recovered.
Throughout his treatments, Mr Chavez has kept many details of his illness secret, including the type of cancer and the precise location of the tumours.
Mr Chavez skipped a meeting in Brasilia on Friday with leaders of the South American trade bloc Mercosur. The Brazilian government said Venezuelan oil minister Rafael Ramirez would instead be representing his government at the meeting.
Mr Chavez said his departure from Cuba had been delayed by a conversation with Fidel Castro, with whom he had been discussing poetry.
The Venezuelan leader also referred to the country’s upcoming state gubernatorial elections on December 16, saying: “We’re eight days away from the next victory.”
