Venezuela's Hugo Chavez dies of cancer

Last Modified: 06 Mar 2013 01:39

Outspoken and divisive president dies after two-year battle with cancer, leaving future of oil-rich nation in question.



Venezuelan President Hugo 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 has said in a televised speech.

Maduro, surrounded by other government officials, announced the death in a national television broadcast on Tuesday.

Reaction from around the world to Chavez's death was swift.

US President Barack Obama, in a statement, called Chavez's passing as a "challenging time" for Venezuela.

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Ban Ki-Moon, the UN secretary-general, said he is "conveying condolence" to the Venezuelan president's "family and the people of Venezuela", according to Al Jazeera's James Bays, who was reporting from New York.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2013/03/20133522030252330.html