Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has died.
After a lengthy battle with cancer that caused him to seek treatment and surgery in Cuba, with the last trip preventing him from attending his own inauguration to a new term in January, Venezuelan officials officially announced yesterday that their leader had succumbed.
Chavez’s illness and death were both clouded with mystery and accusation. Some believe Chavez died a while ago, but the Venezuelan government only made it public now for their own purposes. Chavez himself once said he believed his cancer was brought on by poisoning from another government, while pointing a finger of blame directly at the United States.
Foreign Minister Elias Jose Jaua Milano declared 7 days of mourning and said Mr. Chavez’s body will lie in state until an official funeral on Friday. Vice-President Nicolas Maduro will assume the presidency until an election can be called within the next 30 days.
Hugo Chavez was 58.
As per Gen. Jose Ornella (head of Venezuela's presidential guard), the official cause of death was "a massive heart-attack after great suffering."
I notice that, regardless of how Chavez was viewed by our government and many Americans, there seems to be a genuine outpouring of grief among many, if not most, Venezuelans.