Surprise: Smilin' Hugo Chavez back home in Venezuela

“I’m happy … I’m going to get some rest,” a bubbly-sounding Chavez told state TV by telephone after touching down in the early hours of the morning.

Chavez’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 OPEC member nation for the last 12 years.