Chavez announces on Twitter he's back February 19, 2013 - 12:05AM A modern man ... Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has announced on Twitter he has returned to the country following cancer surgery in Cuba. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced in a Twitter message early on Monday that he had returned home to Venezuela following his cancer surgery in Cuba. "We have arrived again to the Venezuelan motherland," Chavez wrote. Thank you God. Thank you my beloved people. We will continue my treatment here. As recently as Saturday, Venezuelan Information Minister Ernesto Villegas said a respiratory problem persisted and made it difficult for Chavez to talk, although the president remained "conscious, with full intellectual functions and in close touch with his government team." Chavez had been fitted with a breathing tube in his throat, making it hard for him to speak.