Hugo Chavez, Venezuela’s controversial socialist president, died in Caracas, this past Tuesday, March 5^th , after battling cancer for two years.  His death was caused by a respiratory infection that severely weakened him after receiving surgery and treatment in a clinic in Cuba.

Chavez’s cancer was announced to the country in June 2011.  Since then, he went through several surgeries, as well as chemotherapy and radiotherapy.  Chemotherapy and radiotherapy kept the disease at bay, which allowed Chavez to run for re-election in October 2012.  However, Chavez still had to take heavy doses of medicines in order to make some heavily-staged campaign appearances. The very awaited elections took place October 7^th 2012.  Chavez’s main opponent, Henrique Capriles, the leader of the opposition, lost with less than 10% of the popular vote.

On December 8^th, three months after Chavez’s victory, the president announced to the country, via national television, that he would be going back to Cuba for another surgery. He stated that if anything were to happen to him, Nicolas Maduro, the then vice president of Venezuela, was to take over.  Chavez also included that if there were reelections, he wanted his people to vote for Maduro as president. This statement and revelation caused a lot of commotion, leading people to the discussion of why Chavez ran for reelection if he was still unhealthy, which in turn, led to many doubts about what was to come for the Venezuelan government.

After the unsuccessful surgery on December 11th, there were several rumors about Chavez’s health, which was kept a secret.  Ranging from beliefs that he had died, to conspiracies that he was faking to gain popularity for reelection, everybody had an opinion.  The country did not see or hear about Chavez since the surgery except for the “proof of life” photos released Feb. 15.  At the time, government officials were still sending mixed signals to the public regarding Chavez’s condition.  This lack of clarity with the country led many protesters to march on the streets of Caracas, demanding the government to be forthright with its people.  Protesters, including university students, even chained themselves together near the Supreme Court’s office to get a response.

At 2 AM on February 18^th, shocking news hit the streets saying that the President had returned to Venezuela. Chavez was back in his country with his family to continue his treatment at home.  Rumors about his dwindling health swirled once again.  After a rare period of reprisal from talk of Hugo Chavez, the news was announced on March 5th at 4:25 PM: Hugo Chavez had died.

Varied responses of both celebration and tears filled the streets of Venezuela with uproar.  The death of Hugo Chavez, affected not only Venezuela, but also nations around the world that supported or opposed Chavez’s socialist views, evidenced by the 52 presidents and representatives from around the world who traveled to attend the funeral on Friday, March 8th. Officials have promised to preserve Hugo Chavez and display his body “for eternity” inside a glass tomb. Only few people have had their bodies preserved such as Vladimir Lenin and Mao Zedong.

Now that Venezuela’s infamous president has died, what will happen next to the country is crucial. The next elections are April 14th, leaving only a month for the new candidates to campaign. Nicolas Maduro, the current president in charge of Venezuela, is running against the opposition’s leader, Henrique Capriles.  This coming year is going to be a very important election for Venezuela.  Let us hope that whatever the future holds will be the best for the Venezuelans and their country.

Sources

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/protesters-demand-details-chavezs-health-18641813

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/10/us-venezuela-chavez-death-idUSBRE92901S20130310

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/03/05/venezuelan-president-hugo-chavez-dead-vp-says/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mundo/noticias/2013/02/130218_chavez_vuelve_venezuela_ap.shtml