Venezuela is marking the 200th anniversary of its independence from Spain, with President Hugo Chavez back from cancer surgery in Cuba.

委内瑞拉正在举行脱离西班牙独立200周年庆祝仪式，总统乌戈·查韦斯从古巴接受癌症手术归国后亲自主持庆祝活动。

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez was unable to watch the parade in person
A military-civilian¹ parade has been held in Caracas and street parties are taking place across the country.

President Chavez, who made a surprise return on Monday, followed events from the presidential palace.

It is a key date for Mr Chavez, who says independence hero Simon Bolivar is his inspiration.

The celebrations began at midnight with a fireworks display. Later on Tuesday, an urn²（瓮，缸） containing Venezuela's declaration of independence was opened in the presence of government leaders, with the exception of President Chavez.

Writing in Spanish on the Twitter social network, Mr Chavez wished his country a happy birthday.

"Oh Venezuela, happy birthday beloved fatherland! Ah, Venezuelans, Venezuelans, today and forever congratulations, brothers mine! Viva Venezuela!!!!", he wrote in Spanish.

Mr Chavez helped get the main parade under way with a live televised address from the presidential palace. But he was unable to attend the parade in person, because of his health.

Described by the official announcer as "birds of peace and progress", Russian-made military jets made a flypast（空中分列） , leaving in their wake trails of smoke in the red, yellow and blue of the Venezuelan flag.

Then came floats depicting³ themes from Venezuela's past and present.

And to the sound of massed drums and trumpets⁴, soldiers marched past a reviewing stand holding Venezuelan officials and visiting leaders, including three Latin American presidents - Evo Morales of Bolivia, Fernando Lugo of Paraguay and Jose Mujica of Uruguay.

Military delegations⁵ came from as far afield as China, Russia and Belarus.

They were followed by civilian groups, including athletes, waving flags or raising their hats in the air.

State television reported that more than 12,000 people took part in the parade.