CARACAS – Venezuela’s president Hugo Chávez made a surprise homecoming from Cuba yesterday and declared himself “fine” despite speculation his cancer may still require lengthy treatment.
“I’m happy . . . I’m going to get some rest,” Mr Chavez (56) told state television by telephone after touching down in the early hours.
Mr Chávez’s return changes the political dynamics once again in Venezuela, where politicians on all sides had been bracing for a protracted months-long absence of the man who has dominated the oil-producing nation for the last 12 years.
The president jetted in just in time for two days of celebrations of Venezuela’s 200th anniversary of independence from Spain. State media showed video footage of him bidding farewell to Cuban president Raul Castro in Havana and then being greeted by ebullient ministers at Maiquetia airport outside Caracas.
“I’m fine. I feel well,” Mr Chávez said, punching a fist in the air as he emerged from his airplane. “I’m back at the epicentre of Bolivar,” he added, in reference to his idol Simon Bolivar, a hero of Venezuela’s and South America’s fight for independence from Spanish rule.
Despite supporters’ euphoria, Mr Chávez’s exact condition remains unclear, and he may still face lengthy treatment in Venezuela. A military hospital was prepared for his arrival.
He said it was “the start of the return”, implying to some analysts that he may keep a low profile in Venezuela or even return to Cuba for further cycles of treatment.
While his homecoming did not show anything conclusive about his health, it does address complaints from critics that Mr Chávez was flouting the constitution and risking national security by ruling from a hospital in a foreign country.
Sounding ecstatic, vice-president Elias Jaua called on supporters to go to the Miraflores presidential palace in the afternoon to give Mr Chávez a welcome reception.
Since taking office in 1999, the president has shown himself on the palace balcony at the biggest moments of his turbulent and incident-packed rule – including his return to power after a short-lived 2002 coup against him.
Mr Chávez’s sudden return caught Venezuelans by surprise on the first of two days of holidays for the independence celebration.
“That’s amazing. We wanted him here because he’s the president of all Venezuelans. We didn’t feel very secure the way things were,” said supporter Pedro Alizu, who works for a security firm in the capital.
Mr Chávez has been preparing for today’s celebrations for years. Many Venezuelans had thought his convalescence after two operations last month in Cuba – one to remove a cancerous tumour – would keep him in Havana for weeks, possibly months.
Reaction among opposition supporters was muted.
“He’s still sick. How can he rule Venezuela?” asked one woman, who is a member of opposition party Democratic Action. She asked not to be named “so the Chavistas don’t come for me”.