<p> Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez returned home from Havana today, declaring success in his fight against cancer after a week in which he received what was supposed to be his last session of radiation therapy.<br /><br /></p>.<p>"I have to tell you that in recent days we have successfully concluded this course of radiation therapy," the Venezuelan leader told local television upon his arrival at Maiquetia Airport.<br /><br />Interior Minister Tareck El Aissami had fueled the speculation after saying Tuesday that the Venezuelan president would return in "the coming hours," which then did not happen.<br /><br />Chavez, 57, has undergone surgery twice in the past year to remove cancerous tumors, and has had chemotherapy followed by radiation treatments to try to rid himself of the cancer.<br /><br />He has not disclosed the type of cancer he has or the prognosis, which, with presidential elections looming in October, has fueled political uncertainty at home.<br /><br />Chavez, in power since 1999, is running for reelection as a "revolutionary socialist" against Henrique Capriles, the youthful Miranda state governor and center-left candidate for the united opposition.<br /><br />Last month, Chavez put his health and political future in the spotlight, begging at a pre-Easter mass: "Please don't take me yet."<br /><br />"Give me your crown of thorns, Christ, I will bleed; Give me your cross -- 100 crosses -- and I will carry them for you. But give me life, because I still have things to do for my people and my country," Chavez said.<br /><br />Chavez is the most prominent face of the left in Latin America, and has rallied a group of like-minded leaders as a counterweight to the United States.</p>
<p> Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez returned home from Havana today, declaring success in his fight against cancer after a week in which he received what was supposed to be his last session of radiation therapy.<br /><br /></p>.<p>"I have to tell you that in recent days we have successfully concluded this course of radiation therapy," the Venezuelan leader told local television upon his arrival at Maiquetia Airport.<br /><br />Interior Minister Tareck El Aissami had fueled the speculation after saying Tuesday that the Venezuelan president would return in "the coming hours," which then did not happen.<br /><br />Chavez, 57, has undergone surgery twice in the past year to remove cancerous tumors, and has had chemotherapy followed by radiation treatments to try to rid himself of the cancer.<br /><br />He has not disclosed the type of cancer he has or the prognosis, which, with presidential elections looming in October, has fueled political uncertainty at home.<br /><br />Chavez, in power since 1999, is running for reelection as a "revolutionary socialist" against Henrique Capriles, the youthful Miranda state governor and center-left candidate for the united opposition.<br /><br />Last month, Chavez put his health and political future in the spotlight, begging at a pre-Easter mass: "Please don't take me yet."<br /><br />"Give me your crown of thorns, Christ, I will bleed; Give me your cross -- 100 crosses -- and I will carry them for you. But give me life, because I still have things to do for my people and my country," Chavez said.<br /><br />Chavez is the most prominent face of the left in Latin America, and has rallied a group of like-minded leaders as a counterweight to the United States.</p>