Chavez lives on

Gamal Nkrumah pays tribute to the late Veneuzelan leader Hugo Chavez, a champion of the disadvantaged and disfranchised in Latin America and globally and a champion of Latin American unification

Venenzuelan President Hugo Chavez, a devotee of South America's legendary liberator, Simón Bolívar, died aged 58 after a long battle against cancer. Chavez underwent several rounds of chemotherapy, and succumbed to the disease Tuesday afternoon. "We have just received the most tragic and awful information. At 4.25pm, President Hugo Chávez Frias died," Vice President Nicolás Maduro – tipped as a likely successor – announced in a televised address, his voice choking.

"It's a moment of deep pain," he said. Latin America, a continent that has embraced Western-style democracy and yet has consistently elected leftist leaders mourned the passing of Chavez. Bolivia announced seven days of mourning. The presidents of Brazil and Argentina cancelled a summit. In Colombia Chávez was hailed as the decisive figure in that country's ongoing peace process. And, in Ecuador Chavez was regarded as a revolutionary figurehead. In Chile Chavez was hailed as a key figure in regional intergration.

A public mourning began on Tuesday night after the announcement of the passing of Chávez, who has ruled since 1999. As soon as the news was announced, supporters gathered at the city's main square, Plaza Bolivar, and began chanting: "Chávez vive, la lucha sigue" – "Chávez lives, the battle continues."

The progressive forces of the world were shocked to learn that Cuban surgeons had removed a baseball-sized tumour from the pelvis of Chavez. Venezuelans wearing the red beret the president was known for sang a popular folk song with the words: "Those who die for life cannot be called dead." The mourning of Chavez was an unprecedented show of solidarity with the late Venezuelan leader.

As messages of condolence came from many world leaders, perhaps the most significant was from United States President Barack Obama. He said: "At this challenging time of President Hugo Chávez's passing, the United States reaffirms its support for the Venezuelan people and its interest in developing a constructive relationship with the Venezuelan government. As Venezuela begins a new chapter in its history, the US remains committed to policies that promote democratic principles, the rule of law and respect for human rights."

Chávez, the symbol of Latin American socialism, succumbed to a respiratory infection on Tuesday evening, 21 months after he first revealed he had a tumour. He had not been seen in public for three months since emergency surgery in Cuba on 11 December.

He will be given a state funeral in Caracas on Friday. Chávez's doctrine of "Bolivarian 21st-century socialism" galvanised the people of South and Cnetral America and the Caribbean. Venezuela controls the world's greatest untapped reserves of oil.

Chavez was regarded as a champion of the disadvantaged and the impoverished and disfranshised not only of Venzuela, but of the entire "Third World".

His designated successor, Maduro, is likely to face right-wing presidential hopeful Henrique Capriles, the losing opposition candidate in the presidential election held a few months ago in October 2012. Until then, according to the constitution, the interim president should be the head of the national assembly, Diosdado Cabello. However on Tuesday night the Venezuelan foreign minister, Elias Jaua, said Maduro was the interim president. A failed coup in 1992 propelled Chavez into the limelight but it was his ballot box triumphs that made him an inspiration for Venezuela's, and the entire world's poor.

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