“We have received the hardest and most tragic news that… comandante President Hugo Chavez died today at 4:25 pm,” Maduro said on state television.
The flamboyant 58-year-old leader had undergone four operations in Cuba for a cancer that was first detected in his pelvic region in mid-2011. His last surgery was on December 11 and he had not been seen in public since.
"It's a moment of deep pain," Maduro, accompanied by senior ministers, said, his voice choking.
Chavez easily won a new six-year term at an election in October and his death will devastate millions of supporters who adored his charismatic style, anti-U.S. rhetoric and oil-financed policies that brought subsidized food and free health clinics to long-neglected slums.
Detractors, however, saw his one-man style, gleeful nationalizations and often harsh treatment of opponents as traits of an egotistical dictator whose misplaced statist economics wasted a historic bonanza of oil revenues.
Chavez's death opens the way for a new election that will test whether his socialist "revolution" can live on without his dominant personality at the helm. Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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Rare leader Did not bow to global powers..loved by his people and respected by all. I hope Venezuela can give birth to another good leader to its people.
ReplyDeleteOh the world has lost a very strong leader who would voice out loud and clear against policies of the US and give them fitting defiance. Apart from Fidel Castro, he was the only other leader who showed the Americans their place. US would have surely invaded Venezuela too for their oil rich land but for his deft ideology that kept them at bay. May his soul rest in peace....
ReplyDeleteAdieu strong man of Ven
ReplyDelete