HUGO CHAVEZ SUCCUMBS TO CANCER AT 58

After a long battle with protracted cancer, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez finally succumbed to cancer on Tuesday 5th March. Vice President Nicholas Maduro, announced the death of Chavez after he had met with the country’s top political and military leaders about Chavez’s worsening health condition and suggested someone may have deliberately infected Chavez with cancer. Chavez’s remains were taken to a military academy in Caracas on Wednesday where his corpse would lie in state for three days. The late president would be given a state funeral on Friday morning. Venezuela’s government has declared seven days of mourning and flags are flying at half mast in the country and at Venezuelan embassies around the world. In June 2011, Chavez first announced his cancer diagnosis but the government did not give details on the kind of cancer he had. Chavez spent about three months in Cuba where he went for cancer surgery in 2012.