Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez dies at 58

 Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez lost his battle with cancer Tuesday, silencing the leading voice of the Latin American left and plunging his divided oil-rich nation into an uncertain future.

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.