VENEZUELAN President Hugo Chavez has returned home nearly three weeks after undergoing cancer surgery in Cuba, saying he is praying for life.

After stepping off the plane, Chavez smiled and waved but also spoke soberly about the path ahead.

"I lift up a prayer ... in this battle for life," he said in a televised speech on the tarmac. "We will live and we will win."

Chavez came home as many Venezuelans are wondering about his long-term prospects and about how his health will evolve ahead of the country's October 7 presidential election.

Chavez has kept secret some details of his illness, such as the type of cancer, spurring speculation about how it might affect the country's political landscape.

His close allies have assured Venezuelans there is no Plan B.

Chavez was greeted by his vice president and Cabinet ministers and soldiers standing to attention.

He stepped down the stairs at the plane hand in hand with his daughter and his mother.

The president has said a February 26 surgery in Cuba removed a tumour from the same location in the pelvic region where another tumour was removed in June. He has said he is recovering smoothly.

The 57-year-old leader is running for re-election, seeking another six-year term.

His rival, 39-year-old state governor Henrique Capriles, has criticised Chavez's handling of his cancer, saying that if he were president his health would "be a matter of public knowledge."