Death of a global messiah
8 March 2013 5:28 AM IST
HUGO’S LEGACY ECHOES WITH THE UNDERCLASSES WORLDWIDE
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.
Vice President Nicolas Maduro, who struggled to hold back tears as he announced his mentor’s passing yesterday, 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, declared a week of national mourning, and a senior minister said a new vote would be called within what are sure to be 30 tense days.
Foreign Minister Elias Jaua said 58-year-old Chavez’s hand-picked successor Maduro would take over as interim leader pending the next election, declaring: ‘It is the mandate that comandante President Hugo Chavez gave us.’
Hundreds of Chavez supporters crowded in front of the military hospital where he died after a long struggle with cancer, weeping and chanting ‘We are all Chavez!’ ‘Long live Chavez!’ ‘Chavez lives!’ as soldiers guarded the gate.
‘He was our father, our liberator. Nobody expected such a tough blow from destiny,’ said Carlos Perez, a municipal worker holding a photo of a young Chavez in paratrooper uniform.
‘We must continue building the revolution with Maduro, who will be the next president,’ he said. Venezuela's closest ally, communist Cuba, declared its own mourning period for a leader who helped prop up the island's economy with cheap fuel and cash transfers, and dubbed Chavez a ‘true son’ of revolutionary icon Fidel Castro.
But US President Barack Obama, often a target of Chavez’s anti-American scorn, was circumspect, pledging the United States would support the ‘Venezuelan people’ and describing Chavez’s passing as a ‘challenging time.’
‘As Venezuela begins a new chapter in its history, the United States remains committed to policies that promote democratic principles, the rule of law, and respect for human rights,’
Obama said in a short statement. Russia, China and Iran also paid tribute to Chavez, who had cultivated close ties with bugbears of the West as a way of thumbing his nose at Washington.
ARMED FORCES DEPLOYED TO AVERT ‘US MISCHIEF’
Venezuelan Vice President Nicolas Maduro, who struggled to hold back tears as he announced Chavez’s death, said the government had deployed the armed forces and police ‘to accompany and protect our people and guarantee the peace.’
Chavez had named Maduro as his heir, but the Venezuelan opposition is sure to press for fresh elections and tensions have been mounting over government allegations that its domestic rivals are in league with its foreign foes.
Shortly before Chavez's death was announced, Maduro and other top officials had accused Venezuela's enemies of somehow giving the 58-year-old leftist the cancer that eventually killed him, and two US military attaches were expelled.
Under the constitution, elections must be held within 30 days and National Assembly speaker Diosdado Cabello must take over on an interim basis, but Chavez had urged Venezuelans to vote for Maduro if he was unable to return.
Soldiers brought the Venezuelan flag down to half-staff at the Caracas military hospital, where senior figures in Chavez's 14-year-old administration gathered before the cameras of state television to break the news.
‘We have received the toughest and tragic information that... comandante President Hugo Chavez died today at 4:25 pm (Tuesday),’ Maduro said.
‘Long live Chavez!’ the officials shouted at the end of his announcement.
Chavez had been checked into the hospital on 18 February for a course of chemotherapy after spending two months in Cuba, where in December he had undergone his fourth round of cancer surgery since June 2011.
The once ubiquitous symbol of Latin America’s ‘anti-imperialist’ left had disappeared from public view after he was flown to Cuba on 10 December. The government sent mixed signals about the president's health for weeks, warning that he was battling for life.
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.
Vice President Nicolas Maduro, who struggled to hold back tears as he announced his mentor’s passing yesterday, 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, declared a week of national mourning, and a senior minister said a new vote would be called within what are sure to be 30 tense days.
Foreign Minister Elias Jaua said 58-year-old Chavez’s hand-picked successor Maduro would take over as interim leader pending the next election, declaring: ‘It is the mandate that comandante President Hugo Chavez gave us.’
Hundreds of Chavez supporters crowded in front of the military hospital where he died after a long struggle with cancer, weeping and chanting ‘We are all Chavez!’ ‘Long live Chavez!’ ‘Chavez lives!’ as soldiers guarded the gate.
‘He was our father, our liberator. Nobody expected such a tough blow from destiny,’ said Carlos Perez, a municipal worker holding a photo of a young Chavez in paratrooper uniform.
‘We must continue building the revolution with Maduro, who will be the next president,’ he said. Venezuela's closest ally, communist Cuba, declared its own mourning period for a leader who helped prop up the island's economy with cheap fuel and cash transfers, and dubbed Chavez a ‘true son’ of revolutionary icon Fidel Castro.
But US President Barack Obama, often a target of Chavez’s anti-American scorn, was circumspect, pledging the United States would support the ‘Venezuelan people’ and describing Chavez’s passing as a ‘challenging time.’
‘As Venezuela begins a new chapter in its history, the United States remains committed to policies that promote democratic principles, the rule of law, and respect for human rights,’
Obama said in a short statement. Russia, China and Iran also paid tribute to Chavez, who had cultivated close ties with bugbears of the West as a way of thumbing his nose at Washington.
ARMED FORCES DEPLOYED TO AVERT ‘US MISCHIEF’
Venezuelan Vice President Nicolas Maduro, who struggled to hold back tears as he announced Chavez’s death, said the government had deployed the armed forces and police ‘to accompany and protect our people and guarantee the peace.’
Chavez had named Maduro as his heir, but the Venezuelan opposition is sure to press for fresh elections and tensions have been mounting over government allegations that its domestic rivals are in league with its foreign foes.
Shortly before Chavez's death was announced, Maduro and other top officials had accused Venezuela's enemies of somehow giving the 58-year-old leftist the cancer that eventually killed him, and two US military attaches were expelled.
Under the constitution, elections must be held within 30 days and National Assembly speaker Diosdado Cabello must take over on an interim basis, but Chavez had urged Venezuelans to vote for Maduro if he was unable to return.
Soldiers brought the Venezuelan flag down to half-staff at the Caracas military hospital, where senior figures in Chavez's 14-year-old administration gathered before the cameras of state television to break the news.
‘We have received the toughest and tragic information that... comandante President Hugo Chavez died today at 4:25 pm (Tuesday),’ Maduro said.
‘Long live Chavez!’ the officials shouted at the end of his announcement.
Chavez had been checked into the hospital on 18 February for a course of chemotherapy after spending two months in Cuba, where in December he had undergone his fourth round of cancer surgery since June 2011.
The once ubiquitous symbol of Latin America’s ‘anti-imperialist’ left had disappeared from public view after he was flown to Cuba on 10 December. The government sent mixed signals about the president's health for weeks, warning that he was battling for life.
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