Venezuelan mourns, as President Hugo Chavez dies at 58

Caracas: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez died on Tuesday, silencing the leading voice of the Latin American left and plunging his divided oil-rich nation into an uncertain future.
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.
Chavez will be mourned by many of the country’s poor, who revered the self-styled revolutionary for using the country’s oil riches to fund popular housing, health, food and education programs. And like-minded Latin American leaders like Cuba’s Raul Castro, Ecuador’s Rafael Correa and Bolivia’s Evo Morales lost a close friend who used his diplomatic muscle and cheap oil to shore up their rule.

Chavez died five months after winning an election, overcoming a resurgent opposition and public frustration over a rising murder rate, regular blackouts and soaring inflation. He missed his swearing-in for a new six-year term on January 10, but the Supreme Court approved an indefinite delay. A new election could offer another shot at the presidency to Henrique Capriles, the opposition leader who lost to Chavez in October. Defense Minister Diego Molero, surrounded by top military officers, said that the armed forces would defend the constitution and respect Chavez’s wishes.