Hugo Chavez, fiery Venezuelan leader, dies at 58

In this undated photo released by Miraflores Press Office, Hugo Chavez, right, sits with his brother Adam in Barinas, Venezuela. Venezuela's Vice President Nicolas Maduro announced on Tuesday, March 5, 2013 that Chavez has died. Chavez, 58, was first diagnosed with cancer in June 2011.

AP
In this undated photo released by Miraflores Press Office, Hugo Chavez is seen in a family photo in Barinas, Venezuela. Venezuela's Vice President Nicolas Maduro announced on Tuesday, March 5, 2013 that President Hugo Chavez has died at age 58 after a nearly two-year bout with cancer. During more than 14 years in office, Chavez routinely challenged the status quo at home and internationally. He polarized Venezuelans with his confrontational and domineering style, yet was also a masterful communicator and strategist who tapped into Venezuelan nationalism to win broad support, particularly among the poor.

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In this undated photo released by Miraflores Press Office, Hugo Chavez, right, sings folkloric Venezuelan music during an event at the military academy in Caracas, Venezuela.

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In this March 1971 photo released by Miraflores Press Office, Hugo Chavez poses for a photo prior to his admission to the military academy in Caracas, Venezuela.

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In this April 1971 photo released by Miraflores Press Office, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, right, receives a dagger during his ceremony to enter the military academy in Caracas, Venezuela.

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In this March 1972 photo released by Miraflores Press Office, Hugo Chavez, bottom row, right, poses with his baseball teammates during the internal games at the Military Academy in Caracas, Venezuela.

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In this July 5, 1975 photo released by Miraflores Press Office, Hugo Chavez, center, poses with his mother Elena Frias and father Hugo de los Reyes Chavez at his graduation from the military academy in Caracas, Venezuela.

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In this undated photo released by Miraflores Press Office, Lieutenant Hugo Chavez poses for a photo at the Military Academy in Caracas, Venezuela.

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FILE - In this Feb. 4, 1992 file photo, paratroop commander Hugo Chavez talks to reporters at the Defense Ministry after he surrendered to the troops loyal to the government of Carlos Andres Perez in Caracas, Venezuela.

Ali Gomez | AP
FILE - In this Feb. 5, 1992 file photo, paratroop commander Hugo Chavez, center, is escorted by military intelligence officers after being arrested for trying to overthrow Venezuela's government in a coup.

ANDRES LEIGHTON | AP
In this undated photo released by Miraflores Press Office, Hugo Chavez poses as he serves time in the Yare II prison near Caracas, Venezuela.

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In this photo released by Miraflores Press Office, Hugo Chavez, top left, poses with fellow members of the failed coup as they serve time in Yare II jail near Caracas, Venezuela.

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FILE - In this Feb. 4, 1999 file photo, Venezuela's newly sworn in President Hugo Chavez salutes the crowd next to his wife Marisabel Chavez during a military parade commemorating the seventh anniversary of his failed 1992 coup in Caracas, Venezuela.

Douglas Engle | AP
FILE - In this July 24, 2000 file photo, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez holds Simon Bolivar's sword at an event celebrating the independence hero's 114th birthday in Caracas, Venezuela.

Andres Leighton | AP
FILE - In this Sept. 28, 2000 file photo, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, center, Algeria's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, left, and Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud joke after posing for an official photograph on the final day of the second summit of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Caracas, Venezuela.

Andres Leighton | AP
FILE - In this Oct. 12, 2001 file photo released by the Vatican, Pope John Paul II shakes hands with Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez during a private audience at the Vatican City Friday.

Arturo Mari | AP
FILE - In this May 30, 2004 file photo, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, left, shakes hands with former U.S. President Jimmy Carter at Miraflores presidential palace palace in Caracas, Venezuela. At center is an unidentified translator.

Leslie Mazoch | AP
FILE - In this Nov. 24, 2004 file photo released by Miraflores Presidential Press Office, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, right, greets Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez in Tripoli, Libya.

JUAN CARLOS SOLORZANO | AP
FILE - In this Nov. 26, 2004 file photo, Russia's President Vladimir Putin, right, and Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez talk during a meeting in Moscow's Kremlin.

Mikhail Metzel | AP
FILE - In this March 4, 2005 file photo, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, center, talks to India's President, A.P.J Abdul Kalam, right, and India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at a ceremonial reception in New Delhi, India.

Ajit Kumar | AP
FILE - In this March 7, 2005 file photo, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez covers the ears of his grandson Manolito as they watch a display by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) aircrafts at the airport in Bangalore, India.

Gautam Singh | AP
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and President Fidel Castro, speak with the media minutes before Chavez left for Jamaica at Jose Marti international airport in Havana, Cuba Tuesday Aug. 23, 2005. Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson had suggested that American agents assassinate Chavez to stop his country from becoming "a launching pad for communist infiltration and Muslim extremism."

JORGE REY | AP
French President Jacques Chirac, right, listens to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, shortly after both arrived at a stadium for the memorial service for the French citizens of Martinique who died in a plane crash in Venezuela, in Fort de France, Martinique, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2005.

BRENNAN LINSLEY | AP
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, left, speaks to Brazil's President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva during a ceremony at the Suape Harbor Industrial Complex in the northeastern city of Recife, Brazil, on Friday, Dec. 16, 2005.

ALEXANDRE MENEGHINI | AP
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez speaks during the 14th Nonaligned Summit in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Sept. 15, 2006.

JAVIER GALEANO | AP
FILE - In this Sept. 18, 2006 file photo, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, left, and Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wave to the press after inaugurating an oil drill in San Tome, Venezuela.

Fernando Llano | AP
FILE - In this Oct. 17, 2006 file photo, Italy's President Silvio Berlusconi, left, shakes hands with Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez at a meeting in Milan, Italy.

Luca Bruno | AP
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez greets supporters as he rides in an open car toward the Congress in Caracas, Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2007.

Leslie Mazoch | AP
Nicaragua's new president Daniel Ortega, left, and Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez raise their fists during the celebrations after Ortega's inauguration in Managua, Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2007.

Ariel Leon | AP
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez talks with reporters as he leaves his hotel in Buenos Aires Friday, March 9, 2007. Chavez is in Argentina in a two-day visit and will attend an anti-Bush rally later Friday.

Pablo Anieli | AP
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez raises his fist after voting during a referendum in Caracas, Sunday, Dec. 2, 2007.Venezuelans went to the polls Sunday in a referendum, called by Chavez's government, on major changes to their constitution, including removing presidential term limits and expanding presidential powers.

Ricardo Mazalan | AP
FILE - In this July 25, 2008 file photo, Spain's King Juan Carlos, right, shakes hands with Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez at the Marivent Palace in Palma de Mallorca, Spain.

Manu Mielniezuk | AP
FILE - In this Nov. 27, 2008 file photo, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, right, and Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev visit the Admiral Chabanenko, a Russian destroyer docked at La Guaira port, Venezuela.

Dmitry Astakhov | AP
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, right, and Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev wave upon their arrival at a Russian warship docked at La Guaira port, in Venezuela, Thursday, Nov. 27, 2008. Medvedev agreed to help start a nuclear energy program in Venezuela and then departed for Cuba Thursday in a tour aimed at restoring ties that have dwindled since the Cold War.

Fernando Llano | AP
FILE - In this April 17, 2009 file photo, President Barack Obama, left, shakes hands with Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez before the opening session of the 5th Summit of the Americas in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.

Mariamma Kambon | AP
FILE - In this April 18, 2009 file photo, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, right, hands President Barack Obama the book titled "The Open Veins of Latin America" by Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano at a UNASUR countries meeting during the Summit of the Americas in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.

Evan Vucci | AP
Venezuelan's President Hugo Chavez, right, salutes the crowd as he arrives with U.S. director Oliver Stone for the screening of the film 'South of the Border' at the 66th edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, Monday, Sept. 7, 2009.

Andrew Medichini | AP
In this photo released by Miraflores Press Office, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez inspects troops at Mara Fort near Maracaibo, Venezuela, Monday, Dec. 28, 2009. Chavez told troops during a televised speech on Monday that he believes that Colombia and the United States are plotting to set up a fake rebel camp on Venezuelan soil to simulate an attack and try to discredit his government.

Juan Carlos Solorzano | AP
FILE - In this Oct. 28, 2010 file photo released by Argentina's Presidency, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, left, kisses the hand of Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez during the wake of her husband, former Argentina's President Nestor Kirchner, at the government palace in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Kirchner died after suffering a heart attack. Behind right is Maximo Kirchner, son of Cristina and Nestor Kirchner.

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FILE - In this Jan. 1, 2011 file photo, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, second from left, shakes hands with Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez next to Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos, left, and Chile's President Sebastian Pinera at the inauguration ceremony of Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff, unseen, at the Planalto presidential palace in Brasilia, Brazil.

Eraldo Peres | AP
Venezuela President Hugo Chavez appears during a press conference in Montevideo, Uruguay on March 30, 2011.

Magdalena Gutierrez | MCT
In this photo released by Miraflores Press Office, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez holds up a miniature copy of the national constitution during a televised speech from his office at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela Saturday April 7, 2012. Chavez flew back to Cuba late Saturday for another round of radiation therapy, saying he has faith a "miracle" will help him survive cancer.

Francisco Batista | AP
FILE - In this Oct. 4, 2012 file photo, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez dances after delivering a speech during his closing campaign rally in Caracas, Venezuela.

Ariana Cubillos | AP
FILE - In this Oct. 9, 2012 file photo, backdropped by a portrait of independence hero Simon Bolivar, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez talks during a press conference at the Miraflores palace in Caracas, Venezuela.

Rodrigo Abd | AP
Venezuelan vice president Nicolas Maduro, right, unveils a portrait of President Hugo Chavez during a march commemorating the 21st anniversary of a failed coup d'etat led by Chavez, February 5, 2013, in Caracas.

MIGUEL GUTIERREZ | MCT
FILE - In this file photo released on Feb. 15, 2013 by Miraflores Presidential Press Office, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, center, poses for a photo with his daughters, Maria Gabriela, left, and Rosa Virginia at an unknown location in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Feb. 14, 2013.

AP

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