MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Chavez Freed, Returns to Venezuela

Hugo Chavez was freed by his military captors and returned to reclaim the Venezuelan presidency Sunday, in a dramatic restoration of power two days after the military said he had resigned.

Chavez stepped down from a helicopter, smiled and raised his fist in triumph as a greeted hundreds of cheering supporters outside the Miraflores presidential palace. Thousands in the street beyond began singing the Venezuelan national anthem.His return shortly after 3 a.m. followed the resignation of Pedro Carmona, who resigned amid violent protests after just one day in office as interim president of Venezuela, the No. 3 supplier of oil to the United States.

Chavez's vice president, Diosdado Cabello, had declared himself acting president until Chavez's return from military custody. He appeared healthy and hugged supporters as a military band played.

Chavez's family, supporters and former government officials insisted he never resigned as president, as Carmona and Venezuela's high command claimed.

"Today we are celebrating a new democracy," said one man who took a microphone to greet Chavez.

The Organization of American States was sending a delegation to Venezuela to assess the situation. Chavez is a former army paratrooper who led a failed 1992 coup but was elected in 1998 on an anti-poverty platform. His term was to end in 2006.

Chavez's attorney general, Isaias Rodriguez, told Carmona's ministers they were under arrest pending possible charges.

"They must take responsibility. They will be put on trial with all their rights, but they will be put on trial," Cabello said. Some military officials also would be tried for military rebellion, he said.

Tens of thousands of people surrounded the presidential palace Sunday after news of Carmona's resignation. They set off powerful fireworks as they waited for Chavez's anticipated return from military custody.

"Chavez is coming! Chavez is coming!" said Dario Fereira, an unemployed man wearing a tattered shirt.

Chavez administration officials ? many of whom had evaded dozens of police raids under Carmona's brief reign ? and loyalist military officers hugged each other in the palace's marble-floored courtyard.

"In these past two days they have persecuted us," said Rafael Ramirez, president of the state-run national gasoline company.Unshaved and with red-rimmed eyes, Ramirez said he had hidden in friend's homes after Chavez's arrest on Friday