Death of Hugo Chávez

Death of Hugo Chávez

Hearse carrying Hugo Chávez's remains
Date	5 March 2013
Location	Caracas, Venezuela
Burial	Cuartel de la Montaña (),

Hugo Chávez, the 62nd President of Venezuela, died on 5 March 2013 at the age of 58. His death triggered a presidential election which was constitutionally required to be called within 30 days. Nicolás Maduro served as interim president following Chávez's death until 14 April, because the Vice President did not want to take charge of the country as Chávez had nominated Nicolas Maduro as a successor.

Chávez was first elected as president in 1998 and was re-elected in 2000, 2006 and finally in 2012. However, Chávez was unable to be sworn in for a fourth term after the 2012 election due to his illness.

Chávez was diagnosed with cancer following the discovery of a mass in his pelvic region in June 2011. He traveled to Havana, Cuba where he underwent a surgical operation to remove a malignant cancerous tissue mass 'about the size of a baseball' from his waist. He underwent a second surgical operation in Venezuela one month later. Over the next 12 months, he followed a cycle of chemotherapy. The type of cancer Chávez was diagnosed with was never made public which fueled speculation over his condition (with speculations from being prostate cancer to colon cancer among others). Following the presidential election in October 2012 (where he was re-elected to a fourth term), he went to Cuba for more treatment and then returned to Venezuela and stayed at a Caracas army hospital for one week until his death. Successive announcements of his return and updates of his health were criticised by the country's opposition that the population were unaware of his health and location. The fact that the cancer had metastasised was not made public during the campaign, and strongly denied by Government officers. After the first lung infection (pneumonia) in the last stages of his life, Chávez was intubated nearing the end of December. His breathing worsened until his death was announced at 16:25 VET (20:55 UTC) on 5 March 2013, almost two years after he was first diagnosed.