He projected a strong, vibrant image when he stepped off the plane smiling early Monday. He hugged his vice president, broke into song and later raised a fist in triumph.
"It's the beginning of my return!" he declared on the runway.
But he also suggested he still isn't ready for a full comeback, saying he doesn't expect to attend celebrations Tuesday marking the 200th anniversary of Venezuela's declaration of independence from Spain.
For a president who excels at showmanship, his triumphant return was classic Chavez and sent a powerful message that he remains very much in control. During nearly a month in Cuba, uncertainty has swirled in Venezuela, both about how sick he is and about what could happen if cancer were to force him from power.
The long-term political impact of fighting cancer for a leader who thrives on the spotlight remains unclear. But Chavez will likely play up his return to the fullest to rally supporters and strengthen his movement as he looks ahead to 2012 elections in which his allies say they are convinced he will still be their candidate.
Unanswered questions about Chavez's health abound. He has said he underwent surgery to remove a cancerous tumor, and his foreign minister said it was extracted from the same part of the "pelvic region" where Chavez had an abscess removed in an initial operation in Cuba. But Chavez hasn't said what type of cancer is involved or whether he is receiving chemotherapy, radiation or some other treatment.
Medical experts have said that based on Chavez's account, it's most likely he has colorectal cancer, but Chavez has not confirmed that.
Many Chavez supporters were thrilled just to have him back. Hundreds celebrated in Plaza Bolivar in downtown Caracas, holding pictures of him and chanting "Viva Chavez!" and "He's back!"
Elsa Gonzalez, a 61-year-old building maintenance worker, said she had stopped cooking breakfast when she saw Chavez on TV at the Caracas airport.
"I shouted with excitement," she said, teary-eyed as she joined the revelers in the plaza. "God is going to lay his hands on his body and is going to heal him completely."
Chavez returned to a city dressed up with freshly painted murals bearing his face and those of independence heroes. Yellow, blue and red Venezuelan flags were everywhere downtown, fluttering from lamp posts and over doorways under sunny skies.
The mood among Chavez's supporters was festive. Some acknowledged he faces an uncertain future but said they felt hopeful and relieved, especially after seeing him looking much healthier than he did on television several days ago.
"If that illness is attacked in time, people get through it," said Xioraima Garcia, a 56-year-old lawyer who came to the plaza to celebrate with the crowd.
Asked how she thinks the situation will affect Chavez politically, she said: "What he's going through has strengthened him more."
Adam Isacson, an analyst at the Washington Office on Latin America, agreed that Chavez will get a boost, at least for now.
"Hugo Chavez's illness will generate a lot of sympathy for him," Isacson said, adding that it's similar to the jump in the polls that Argentine President Cristina Fernandez enjoyed after her husband's death.
"It is already moving Venezuela's political debate away from themes that don't work to the president's advantage, like crime, power shortages, the economy, and concentration of power in the presidency," Isacson said. "On the other hand, it also moves the debate in directions that Chavez would not want to see it go. For the first time in years, Venezuelans are thinking about what a post-Chavez era might look like. This raises concerns about the lack of an heir-apparent."
Chavez appeared eager to counter such doubts.
"Here I am, at home and very happy!" Chavez said in a message on Twitter. "Good morning, my beloved Venezuela!"
Vice President Elias Jaua said Chavez was back in the presidential palace and planned to address supporters from the balcony later Monday. "He doesn't need to go to the hospital at this time," Jaua said.
Jaua denied that Chavez's socialist-inspired Bolivarian Revolution movement is threatened.
Chavez's opponents have criticized a lack of details about his illness. Leading opposition lawmaker Alfonso Marquina said Chavez's return puts an end to the "irregular situation" of having a president governing from Cuba, but he said much has yet to be explained.
"We don't know exactly what the president's illness is, what treatment he needs and what consequences this treatment will bring," Marquina told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.
"What we demand is greater responsibility, no only on the president's part but by all of those high in the government to inform the Venezuelan people properly about the president's real situation," Marquina said.
Chavez, 56, arrived in Cuba on June 8 for what ostensibly was a previously scheduled visit. Chavez has said he underwent an initial surgery June 11 to have a pelvic abscess removed.
After an 18-day silence, a video was shown Thursday in which Chavez announced he had undergone a second surgery to remove a cancerous abscessed tumor.
Chavez looked thinner but stood straight and appeared energetic as he strode across the Havana airport tarmac before boarding a plane.
In video on Venezuelan state television, he embraced Cuban President Raul Castro. Then, from the door of the airplane he saluted, raised a fist, waved, and blew a kiss.
"I'm fine. I'm happy," Chavez said as he landed in Venezuela about 2 a.m. local time (2:30 a.m. EDT; 0630 GMT). Inside the Caracas airport, he raised a fist as he held up a newspaper showing the Venezuelan soccer team's better-than-expected performance Sunday against Brazil.
In a later telephone interview with state television, Chavez said he was eating a hearty breakfast. "I'm devouring everything," he said.
And yet, Chavez went on to say he didn't plan to attend celebrations Tuesday for Venezuela's bicentennial, which include a military parade.
"I don't think I can accompany you in the official acts tomorrow, but I am here and will be with all of you from my command post in the heart of Caracas, although I never left," Chavez said.
He also said he planned to consult with doctors before meeting with his government.
"I just finished checking the medical schedule, before anything," he said, adding his medical care would come "before anything."
At his early morning arrival, Chavez's military chiefs stood behind him as he spoke on the runway in the darkness. He wore a blue-and-white warmup suit as he hugged his elder brother, Adan, and others.
The video, aired more than five hours after his arrival, didn't show Chavez either ascending the airplane's stairs in Cuba or descending them in Venezuela.
Former Cuban President Fidel Castro ended a more than monthlong silence to say he was confident the Venezuelan leader will win his battle against cancer.
"The results are impressive, and I do not hesitate to affirm that the patient has undertaken a decisive battle that will lead him, and with him Venezuela, to a great victory," Castro wrote in the essay, posted late Sunday on state-run website Cubadebate.
Castro also backed up Chavez's account that he did not initially come to Cuba for treatment, saying the Venezuelan leader "did not have any intention of receiving medical services in our country."
Fidel Castro wasn't visible on the tarmac in the video of Chavez boarding his flight in Havana. But Chavez joked that "Fidel practically got on the plane."
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Associated Press writers Fabiola Sanchez in Caracas and Peter Orsi in Havana contributed to this report.
