Havana, Jul 18 (IANS/EFE): Cuban President Raul Castro was at the Havana airport to welcome Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who returned to the island to begin the second phase of treatment for his recently-detected cancer and undergo chemotherapy.

Video broadcast on the midnight news report on Cuban state television showed Chavez's arrival at the Havana airport, where Castro received him.

Chavez announced Friday in Caracas that he had requested permission from the Venezuelan National Assembly to travel to Cuba to receive the second part of his treatment against his illness.

Venezuela's National Assembly Saturday authorised the trip and Chavez signed a decree delegating part of his duties as head of state to Vice President Elias Jaua and to Planning and Finance Minister Jorge Giordani.

"This is a decree to delegate, not as some sectors of the opposition want, for me to turn over the government ... I'm going to delegate a group of duties, as the constitution provides, to Vice President Elias Jaua and to Minister Jorge Giordani," Chavez said during a special Cabinet meeting.

Chavez Saturday kept to a busy agenda to meet with his ministers and resolve certain matters that will allow him to remain at the head of the government despite being in Cuba.