Photos of president Chávez in Havana were released by the government last week.

President Hugo Chávez returned to Venezuela early this morning after undergoing two months of cancer treatment in Havana, Cuba. Vice President Nicolás Maduro confirmed the president’s arrival at 2:30am local time at the Simón Bolivar International airport. Arriving under strict secrecy and without press fanfare, he was admitted to the military hospital in Caracas.

He announced via his Twitter account “We have returned to the homeland. Thank you my God!! Thank you my beloved people!! Here we shall continue treatment”. This is the first time since 1st November that the president has communicated via Twitter.

In a second tweet the president thanked Fidel Castro, Raul Castro, and all of Cuba; as well as the whole of Venezuela for all its love. He cited his trust in God and his nurses, finishing the tweet with the words “we will live and we shall conquer/overcome”.

On the 11th December last year the president underwent a complicated surgery after the re-appearance of malignant cancer cells in his pelvic are where a cancerous lesion was previously discovered.

Chávez was treated at the advanced Medical Surgery Research Centre (Cimeq), which was subject to stringent secrecy protocol. Aside from a photograph released last Friday showing him smiling with his two eldest daughters, he was not seen in public throughout his stay there nor was he photographed. None of the Latin American presidents who visited him were allowed access to his room. Medical personnel were forbidden from entering with mobile phones, and were made to use special keys that were changed daily.

Unable to take office following his re-election last October, the Supreme Court extended his 2007-2012 government mandate allowing him to assume the post at a later date.

After spending 12 days in Cuba receiving another round of cancer treatments, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez returned to Caracas today.

The president landed in Caracas at dawn local time, but rather than making a customary address through the media, merely announced that he had spent his return flight from Havana with Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro discussing labour law.

Chávez hinted from Havana on Monday that he would be back today, but that he would be returning to Havana again for a fifth and final round of treatment in the near future.

Chávez received his first treatment in June of last year, when a tumour was removed, however details of the president’s illness have not been fully disclosed over the past year. Ahead of October’s presidential elections, the lack of information has at times prompted concern among citizens as to the status of Chávez’s health and his ability to govern in the future.

President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner resumed her position as the head of state at midnight last night. There will be a ceremony held at 6.30pm in the Salón de las Mujeres in the Bicentennial to celebrate her return after her 20 day leave.

The meeting in the hall will officially be for the signing of a new sewage works agreement in Lomas de Zamora, but as it will be the president’s first appearance, some will attend solely to show their support.

The ceremony should comprise of the entire cabinet, as well as mayors, governors and other leading political figures. There will be screens placed around the ground floor of the Bicentennial for all the guests to watch.

Though unconfirmed, sources for La Nación have said that the president yesterday received her final discharge from Peter Sack, the doctor heading her operation and the man responsible for her health over the period.