As news of the death of President Hugo Ch?vez spread, Venezuelans rushed to downtown Caracas, many wearing red in honor of their socialist?commandante.
Supporters of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez react to the announcement of his death in Caracas, March 5, 2013. 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 on Tuesday.
Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters
EnlargeCaracas, Venezuela; and Boston
Plaza Bolivar in downtown Caracas quickly filled with Venezuelans tonight, mourning the death of their president and commandante, Hugo Ch?vez. Many rushed directly from work to the spot named after Simon Bolivar, the liberator of South America and?Ch?vez?s hero. The late president's signature red dotted the crowds. ?As car horns blasted, thousands waved campaign posters and cradled photos of the man who led a socialist revolution that has left both Venezuela and communities across Latin America markedly changed.
Skip to next paragraph Whitney EulichLatin America Editor
Whitney Eulich is the Monitor's Latin America editor, overseeing regional coverage for CSMonitor.com and the weekly magazine. She also curates the Latin America Monitor Blog.
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A chant rose from among the crowd: ?The people united will never be defeated.?
Chavez stood at the helm of Venezuela for the past 14 years, winning his most recent reelection in October. Soon thereafter he announced that his cancer, which he had been battling for at least a year and a half, had returned. He flew to Cuba in December for treatment and surgery, and was not seen publicly again. Vice President Nicolas Maduro announced his passing on national TV this afternoon.
State television shared Twitter messages from people around the globe encouraging peace and expressing condolences to the Venezuelan people. Teary statements from neighboring leaders were aired, including words from Bolivia?s President Evo Morales.? ?Chavez will always be with us,? he said.
"It hurts, but we must stand united in this process of liberation, not only of Venezuela but of the whole region..." Mr. Morales said. "Chavez is now more alive than ever."
Chavez was a champion for the world?s underdogs and his country?s poor, missions bolstered by Venezuela?s vast petro-wealth. He created the Bolivarian Alliance, a bloc of leftist Latin American countries, to counter the might of international institutions like the World Bank, and poured his country?s oil wealth into neighboring nations like Bolivia, Cuba, and Nicaragua.
?Remember this is the first time within historical memory that a leftist revolution has had a big wad of dough to back it up,? says Larry Birns, director of the Council on Hemispheric Affairs.
But countries that have not always been closely allied with Ch?vez spoke out tonight as well. The Guardian reports:
Colombian President Jose Manuel Santos praised President Chavez's contribution to the peace process with the FARC [rebels] in Colombia. Chavez cherished the Bolivarian dream of regional unity, Santos said. He conveyed his condolences to Chavez's daughters.
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