Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez dies of cancer

enezuelan President Hugo Chavez has died after a two-year battle with cancer, ending the socialist leader's 14-year rule of the South American country, Vice President Nicolas Maduro said in a televised speech.

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 evidence of an egotistical dictator whose misplaced statist economics wasted a historic bonanza of oil revenues.

Chavez's death paves the way for a new election that will test whether his socialist "revolution" can live on without his dominant personality at the helm.

Vice President Maduro favorite to win election

The vote should be held within 30 days and will likely pit Maduro against Henrique Capriles, the centrist opposition leader and state governor who lost to Chavez in the October election.

One recent opinion poll gave Maduro a strong lead.

Maduro is Chavez's preferred successor, enjoys support among many of the working class and could benefit from an inevitable surge of emotion in the coming days.

But the president's death could also trigger in-fighting in a leftist coalition that ranges from hard-left intellectuals to army officers and businessmen.

Venezuela has the world's largest oil reserves and some of the most heavily traded bonds, so investors will be highly sensitive to any signs of political instability.

A defeat for Maduro would bring major changes to Venezuela and could also upend its alliances with Latin American countries that have relied on Chavez's oil-funded largesse - most notably with communist-led Cuba, which recovered from financial ruin in the 1990s thanks largely to Chavez's aid.

Chavez was a garrulous figurehead for a global "anti-imperialist" alliance stretching as far as Belarus and Iran, and he will be sorely missed by anti-U.S. agitators


Born Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías on July 28, 1954, in Sabaneta, Venezuela, Hugo Chávez was the son of schoolteachers. Before becoming known for his reform efforts and strong opinions as president of Venezuela (1999-2013), Chávez attended the Venezuelan Academy of Military Sciences, where he graduated in 1975 with a degree in military arts and science. He went on to serve as an officer in an army paratrooper unit.

In 1992, Chávez, along with other disenchanted members of the military, attempted to overthrow the government of Carlos Andres Perez. The coup failed, and Chávez subsequently spent two years in prison before being pardoned. He then started the Movement of the Fifth Republic, a revolutionary political party. Chávez ran for president in 1998, campaigning against government corruption and promising economic reforms.

Hostility Toward the U.S.

Chávez was known for being outspoken and dogmatic throughout his presidency, refusing to hold back any of his opinions or criticisms. He insulted oil executives, church officials and other world leaders, and was particularly hostile with the United States government, which, he believed, was responsible for the failed 2002 coup against him.

Chavez wouldn't let big corporations designated by the Bush admin. come in and take over his oil industry. He wanted the wealth generated by Venezuela's oil to benefit the people of Venezuela. To the US, that makes him a dangerous international criminal. You can bet the CIA is doing covert ops in Venezuela to try to bring him down. They'll say his people hate him and want a new leader, but its really the oil companies.

RIP to a true leader who gave so much for his country/people.

The cancer was given to him by his enemies in the US, said maduro.



Quotes

"The left is back, and it's the only path we have to get out of the spot to which the right has sunken us. Socialism builds and capitalism destroys."
– Hugo Chávez


http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/640382-venezuelan-president-hugo-chavez-dies-of-cancer.html

good read chaos....
a good man was lost last night, a kind of man i would like to see in the power of my f*cked up country, a man that did great deeds to his ppl and that stood against all kind of corruption and preassure to release venezuela oil. sad day for all socialists and followers of chavez.... i can see the grasp of capitalism hanging over venezuela and best of luck to that ppl, they will need it. i hope maduro keeps the path of chavez.
and power to the ppl

I like ur post!

ty bro... that means alot