LATIN America mourned the death of
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez as the US expressed hope his passing
would lead to improved relations with the oil-rich state.
Chavez, 58, died after a long battle with cancer, plunging
Venezuela into an uncertain future after 14 years of rule by the
charismatic former paratrooper, a standard-bearer of Latin America's
"anti-imperialist" left.
A tearful Vice-President Nicolas Maduro
announced Chavez's death on state television saying: "We have received
the hardest and most tragic news that... comandante President Hugo
Chavez died today at 4.25pm."
"Long live Chavez," the officials surrounding him shouted.
The once omnipresent face of the Latin American country had been breathing with the aid of a tracheal tube, and had not been seen in public in almost three months.
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez is
pictured with his daughters, Maria Gabriela, left, and Rosa Virginia at
an unknown location in Havana, Cuba, in February, the last publicly
released image of him.
Maduro moved to immediately deploy police and the military
following the announcement "to accompany and protect our people and
guarantee the peace."
The country now faces another election as
Venezuela's constitution rules an election must be held within 30 days
of the president's death.
Venezuela's Minister of Defence, Adm
Diego Alfredo Molero Bellavia told a news conference of the deployment:
"You can count on us, the men and women of the country's armed forces,
who will together ensure that the constitution is upheld.
"We join
the nation in their sorrow, and once more call for unity and peace
between all parties. We all, from this moment, will have a mission to
comply with and will ensure that for the sake of the nation that it is
complied with. Long live Chavez. Long live the revolution."
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