Hugo Chavez has died

Aidric

Popular socialist President of Venezuela for 14 years has passed on after a battle with cancer.

Breaking all over twitter at the moment. Confirmed by BBC.

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez has died, his vice-president has announced.

Mr Chavez had not appeared in public since he returned to Venezuela last month after cancer treatment in Cuba.

An emotional Nicolas Maduro made the announcement on Tuesday evening, flanked by leading Venezuelan political and military leaders.

Earlier, he said the 58-year-old Venezuelan leader had a new, severe respiratory infection and had entered "his most difficult hours".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-21679053

who ?

Fr_Dougal

Seemed like a decent man. RIP

Where To

I've only ever met two Venezuelans in my life, and neither of them will shed a tear for him. So I won't either.

keith16

tajd wrote: »

who ?

Hugo Chavez. RIP.

4zn76tysfajdxp

Deleted User wrote: »

who ?

Hugo Chavez.

Andy-Pandy

I'm not one for conspiracy theories but i wouldn't be surprised that in a few years we find out he was poisoned.

efb

Mr Bush you are a Donkey!

My name is URL

He should be made a saint just for calling George Bush a donkey.

Andy-Pandy wrote: »

I'm not one for conspiracy theories but i wouldn't be surprised that in a few years we find out he was poisoned.

He had cancer for 3 years. Was no real secret that he was on the way out.

P_1

Interesting times ahead in Central America so.

Odds on some kind of a right wing coup?

dxhound2005

Maybe someone else will get a go on Venezuelan TV now.

Conmaicne Mara

No loss.

anncoates

Great striker when he was at Madrid

RIP

Praetorian Saighdiuir

anncoates wrote: »

Great striker when he was at Madrid

RIP

Don't be so stupid, the poor man is dead.

lee_baby_simms

George Galloway will be gutted.

Hammer Archer

RIP.
He had his faults, without a doubt. But he was loved by masses of poor in Venezuela who had been repeatedly trodden on by countless previous regimes.

For anyone interested, I'd suggest watching the documentary "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" which focuses on the attempted coup against Chavez back in 2002.

lintdrummer

Sad to see him go. For those who want an insight into his life their is a riveting Irish documentary called "the revolution will not be televised". Well worth watching.

Edit: beat me to it Hammer Archer!

dmc17

Praetorian Saighdiuir wrote: »

Don't be so stupid, the poor man is dead.

He may be dead but he ain't poor

Cavehill Red

He served his people. There are very few national leaders one can say that about. We could have used a leader of his ilk here in recent years.
RIP Hugo Chavez.

anncoates

Praetorian Saighdiuir wrote: »

Don't be so stupid, the poor man is dead.

Your sanctimony arouses us all.

Ilik Urgee

Why do I keep hearing loud farting noises every time I see RIP?

Andy-Pandy

My name is URL wrote: »

He should be made a saint just for calling George Bush a donkey.



He had cancer for 3 years. Was no real secret that he was on the way out.

There is a very high rate of cancer among leftwing south American leaders. I'm sure it's just coincidental, but is quite odd.

never heard him

Prodigious

Praetorian Saighdiuir wrote: »

Don't be so stupid, the poor man is dead.

Says your man who goes around making Madeline McCann jokes....

Ciaran_B

A great man.

RIP.

Annasopra

Very sad

SEPT 23 1989

Expect a rise in the price of petrol

Green Diesel

Andy-Pandy wrote: »

There is a very high rate of cancer among leftwing south American leaders. I'm sure it's just coincidental, but is quite odd.

I blame the flouride... :pac:

anncoates

tajd wrote: »

never heard him

Well he was on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.

Madam_X

Deleted User wrote: »

never heard him

There's loads on the internet about him would you believe.

Not sure he turned out to be the saviour people thought he'd be either...

super_furry

What does Mourinho think of it?

Steve O

Madam_X wrote: »

There's loads on the internet about him.

He's a pornstar?

Nodin

anncoates wrote: »

Well he was on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.

I hear it takes a month of fair winds to hear news of that far flung land....

Praetorian Saighdiuir

anncoates wrote: »

Your sanctimony arouses us all.

Methememb wrote: »

Says your man who goes around making Madeline McCann jokes....

I see sarcasm detection is deficient in you two.

Nodin

Madam_X wrote: »

There's loads on the internet about him.

Not sure he turned out to be the saviour people thought he'd be either...

No, but he tried, which puts him above the usual.

orestes

Madam_X wrote: »

There's loads on the internet about him

Pfffft, surely you don't expect any of us to actually try to find anything out for ourselves?! Spoon-feed me dammit!

Banjo String

Only the right wing divvies will be pleased by this news.

R.I.P

mikemac1

20,000 murders a year says he tried to change his country and made it worse

Big Lar

Was there a Mrs. Chaves?

GRMA

RIP, great man and leader - flawed but far better than every other leader around the world

dxhound2005

He made every single TV channel in the country carry his speeches which went on for hours and hours. Would that work for Enda here?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/26/venezuela-protest-hugo-chavez-television

The only surprise is that he has not lined up a family member to continue the "revolution".

losthorizon

P_1 wrote: »

Interesting times ahead in Central America so.

Odds on some kind of a right wing coup?

Venezuela is in South America

Chuck Stone

Conmaicne Mara wrote: »

No loss.

Really?

Extreme poverty declined even more, from 16.6 to 7.0 percent from 1999 to 2011, or a 57.8 percent decline. Measuring from 2004, the decline is 70 percent. However, these figures do not include the most recent program, introduced in December 2011, which pays 430 BF ($100) per month for each child and pregnancy to families below the extreme poverty level. This is expected to lower the extreme poverty rate by half, to about 3.5 percent.

It is also important to note that these poverty rates include only cash income. They do not include
the populations’ increased access to education – for example, college enrollment has doubled since
2004, with free tuition for many students

http://www.cepr.net/documents/publications/venezuela-2012-09.pdf

Where To

mikemac1 wrote: »

20,000 murders a year says he tried to change his country and made it worse

They stopped officially reporting the figures and they are still in the top 5.

Basketcase of a country, a perfect example of Animal Farmism if ever there was one.

strobe

Andy-Pandy wrote: »

There is a very high rate of cancer among leftwing south American leaders. I'm sure it's just coincidental, but is quite odd.

All the complimentary Cuban cigars?

Stinicker

R.I.P to a great man and a leader of the revolution. He actually done something for his people and was more of a politician than any of the corrupt money grabbing scum we call politicians here in the West.

Banjo String

dxhound2005 wrote: »

He made every single TV channel in the country carry his speeches which went on for hours and hours. Would that work for Enda here?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/26/venezuela-protest-hugo-chavez-television

The only surprise is that he has not lined up a family member to continue the "revolution".

Here, our politicians just line up family members for jobs.......

Not worlds apart tbh.

padd b1975

A benign dictator was the soundbite I heard most used to describe him.

RIP all the same.

GRMA

padd b1975 wrote: »

A benign dictator was the soundbite I heard most used to describe him.

RIP all the same.

How? He was repeatedly and fairly democratically elected.

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy

RIP Hugo Chavez.

brimal

Chavez was rabidly anti-Semitic.

He ran many anti-Semitic media campaigns, made several anti-Semitic speeches, and his campaign to vilify Henrique Capriles by using his Jewish roots was sickening.

It's no wonder that since Chavez came to power anti-Semitism is on the rise in Venezuela and the Jewish population has declined by 75%.

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/article/hugo-chavezs-jewish-problem/
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/chavez-anti-semitism-and-today-s-venezuelan-elections.premium-1.468637
http://www.ibtimes.com/venezuela-hugo-chavez-anti-semitic-election-campaign-214136

How people on here can champion this man is beyond me.