Venezuela Prez Chavez dies of cancer at 58

Mar 07, 2013 |

Venezuela was plunged into uncertainty on Wednesday after the death of President Hugo Chavez, who dominated the oil-rich country for 14 years and came to embody a resurgent Latin American left.

Hundreds of Chavez supporters crowded in front of the military hospital where he died after a long struggle with cancer.
Vice-president Nicolas Maduro, who struggled to hold back tears as he announced his mentor’s passing on Tuesday, said armed forces and police had been deployed “to accompany and protect our people and guarantee the peace.”
Venezuela, still deeply divided after an acrimonious election in October 2012, declared a week of national mourning, and a senior minister said a new vote would be called within 30 days.
Foreign minister Elias Jaua said 58-year-old Chavez’s hand-picked successor Maduro wou-ld take over as interim leader pending the next election, declaring: “It is the mandate that comandante President Hugo Chavez gave us.”

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