President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela Dies at Age 58
By WILLIAM NEUMAN
President Hugo Chávez has died, the government announced Tuesday,
leaving behind a bitterly divided nation in the grip of a deepening
political crisis that grew more acute as he languished for weeks
Egilda Gomez/Associated Press
Over nearly a decade and a
half, President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela built a political movement and a
government that were centered on his outsize personality. More Photos »
By WILLIAM NEUMAN
Published: March 5, 20
CARACAS, Venezuela — President Hugo Chávez
of Venezuela died Tuesday afternoon after a long battle with cancer,
the government announced, leaving behind a bitterly divided nation in
the grip of a political crisis that grew more acute as he languished for
weeks, silent and out of sight in hospitals in Havana and Caracas.
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His departure from a country he dominated for 14 years casts into doubt
the future of his socialist revolution. It alters the political balance
in Venezuela, the fourth-largest foreign oil supplier to the United
States, and in Latin America, where Mr. Chávez led a group of nations
intent on reducing American influence in the region.
Mr. Chávez changed Venezuela in fundamental ways, empowering and
energizing millions of poor people who had felt marginalized and
excluded.
But Mr. Chávez’s rule also widened society’s divisions. His death is
sure to bring more changes and vast uncertainty as the nation tries to
find its way without its central figure.
With the president’s death, the Constitution says that the nation should
“proceed to a new election” within 30 days, and that the vice president
should take over in the meantime. The election is likely to pit Vice
President Nicolás Maduro, whom Mr. Chávez designated as his political
successor, against Henrique Capriles Radonski, a young state governor
who ran against Mr. Chávez in a presidential election in October.
But there has been heated debate in recent months over clashing
interpretations of the constitution, in light of Mr. Chávez’s illness,
and it is impossible to predict how the post-Chávez transition will
proceed.
Mr. Chávez’s supporters wept and flowed into the streets in paroxysms of mourning.
Mr. Chávez was given a diagnosis of cancer in June 2011, but throughout
his treatment he kept many details about his illness secret, refusing to
say what kind of cancer he had or where in his body it occurred. He had
three operations from June 2011 to February 2012, as well as
chemotherapy and radiation treatment, but the cancer kept coming back.
The surgery and most other treatments were done in Cuba.
Then on Dec. 8, just two months after winning re-election, Mr. Chávez
stunned the nation by announcing in a somber televised address that he
needed yet another surgery.
That operation, his fourth, took place in Havana on Dec. 11. In the
aftermath, grim-faced aides described the procedure as complex and said
his condition was delicate. They eventually notified the country of
complications, first bleeding and then a severe lung infection and
difficulty breathing.
After previous operations, Mr. Chávez often appeared on television while
recuperating in Havana, posted messages on Twitter or was heard on
telephone calls made to television programs on a government station. But
after his December surgery, he was not seen again in public, and his
voice fell silent.
Mr. Chávez’s aides eventually announced that a tube had been inserted in
his trachea to help his breathing, and that as a result he had
difficulty speaking. It was the ultimate paradox for a man who seemed
never at a loss for words, often improvising for hours at a time on
television, haranguing, singing, lecturing, reciting poetry and orating.
As the weeks dragged on, tensions rose in Venezuela, and the situation
turned increasingly bizarre. Officials in Mr. Chávez’s government strove
to project an image of business as usual and deflected inevitable
questions about a vacuum at the top. At the same time, the country
struggled with an out-of-balance economy, troubled by soaring prices and
escalating shortages of basic goods.
The opposition, weakened after defeats in the presidential election in
October and elections for governor in December, in which its candidates
lost in 20 of 23 states, sought to keep pressure on the government.
Then officials suddenly announced on Feb. 18 that Mr. Chávez had
returned to Caracas. He arrived unseen on a predawn flight and was
installed in a military hospital, where aides said he was continuing
treatments.
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Over nearly a decade and a half, Mr. Chávez built a political movement
and a government that were centered on his outsize personality. He made
most major decisions and dominated all aspects of political life. He
inspired a fierce, sometimes religious devotion among his supporters and
an equally fervent animus among his opponents. As many of his followers
say: “With Chávez everything, without Chávez nothing.”
But that leaves his revolution in a precarious spot without its charismatic leader.
“In regimes that are so person-based, the moment that the person on
which everything hangs is removed, the entire foundation becomes very
weak because there was nothing else supporting this other than this
figure,” said Javier Corrales, a professor of political science at
Amherst College.
Mr. Chávez’s death could provide an opportunity for the political
opposition, which was never able to defeat him in a head-to-head
contest.
Mr. Capriles lost by 11 percentage points to Mr. Chávez in October. But
he has twice beaten top Chávez lieutenants in running for governor of
his state, Miranda, which includes part of Caracas.
And Mr. Maduro is far from having Mr. Chávez’s visceral connection to
the masses of Venezuela’s poor. Even so, most analysts believe that Mr.
Maduro will have an advantage, and that he will receive a surge of
support if the vote occurs soon after the president’s death.
But even if Mr. Maduro prevails, he may have a hard time holding
together Mr. Chávez’s movement and furthering its socialist goals while
fending off resistance from what is likely to be a revived opposition.
Mr. Chávez’s new six-year term began on Jan. 10, with the president
incommunicado in Havana. In his absence, the government held a huge
rally in the center of Caracas, where thousands of his followers raised
their hands to pledge an oath of “absolute loyalty” to their commander
and his revolution. Officials promised that Mr. Chávez would have his
inauguration later, when he had recovered.
But the hoped-for recovery never came. Now, instead of an inauguration,
Mr. Chávez’s followers are left to plan a funeral. COPY http://www.nytimes.com/
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