CARACAS, April 14 (News Agencies) - Hugo Chavez returned to reclaim the Venezuelan presidency Sunday, April 14, in a dramatic restoration of power two days after being forced out by the country's military, news agencies reported.

A helicopter carrying Chavez landed near the palace after bringing him from the Caribbean island of Orchila, where he had been detained, BBC’s online news service reported.

Chavez was greeted by hundreds of cheering supporters outside the Miraflores presidential palace. Thousands in the street beyond began singing the Venezuelan national anthem.

His return shortly early Sunday morning followed the resignation of Pedro Carmona, after one day in office as interim president of Venezuela, a top 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.

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.

Isaias Rodriguez, Chavez's attorney general, 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.

Tens of thousands of people surrounded the presidential palace Sunday after news of Carmona's resignation. "Chavez is coming! Chavez is coming!" said Dario Fereira, an unemployed man wearing a tattered shirt.

Demonstrators supporting Chavez — or at least opposed to the way he was ousted — forced Carmona to step down.

The commander of a strategic air base in the central city of Maracay rebelled Saturday, setting in motion nationwide protests demanding Chavez's return.

Thousands took to the streets, taking over state TV, to demand that Chavez be reinstalled.