Hugo Chavez | 1954-2013

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez delivers a speech during his campaign closure rally in Caracas last fall.  (Juan Barreto / AFP/Getty Images)

Hugo Chavez speaks at the Plaza Caracas on Feb. 4, 1998, in Caracas during celebrations for the anniversary of the 1992 coup. A ban on citizens visiting the United States and the scorn of his country’s wealthy elite did not keep former coup leader Chavez from becoming a hero to millions of Venezuelans or winning the 2012 presidential race.  (Jorge Santo / Associated Press)

Cuban President Fidel Castro, right, jokes with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and his then-wife, Marisabel Chavez, not pictured, upon their arrival in Havana on Nov. 15, 1999.  (Gregory Bull / Associated Press)

Chavez addresses members of the foreign news media during a news conference at the presidential Miraflores Palace in Caracas on July 18, 2002. Chavez said that Venezuela was further from war and political chaos than before and that the country showed signs of “rational optimism” for the future.  (Juan Barreto / AFP/Getty Images)

Chavez greets supporters at a rally in Caracas on Oct. 13, 2002.  (Fernando Llano / Associated Press)

Chavez and Cuban President Fidel Castro speak with reporters minutes before Chavez left for Jamaica at Havana’s Jose Marti International Airport on Aug. 23, 2005. The day before, U.S. religious broadcaster Pat Robertson suggested that American agents assassinate Chavez to stop his country from becoming “a launching pad for communist infiltration and Muslim extremism.”  (Jorge Rey / Associated Press)

Chavez makes a gesture of prayer as he speaks of President George W. Bush, whom he referred to as “the devil” during his address to the 61st session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York in September 2006. “Yesterday, the devil came here,” he said of Bush, who was there give a speech. “And it smells of sulfur still today.”  (Timothy A. Clary / AFP/Getty Images)

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and Chavez hold hands and wave on Jan. 10, 2007, in Managua, Nicaragua, during Ortega’s inauguration.  (Yuri Cortez / AFP/Getty Images)

Chavez embraces Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the presidential Miraflores Palace in Caracas on Jan. 13, 2007. The presidents signed bilateral agreements. “Iran and Venezuela are two important allies on a global level, the two countries have important industrial and oil projects, which we will follow up in this trip,” Ahmadinejad said before flying from Tehran, according to the state-run IRNA agency.  (Marcelo Garcia / AFP/Getty Images)

Riot police officers protect themselves as university students protest in Caracas on Nov. 1, 2007. Troops used tear gas and water cannons to disperse demonstrators who turned out by the tens of thousands to protest constitutional changes that would permit Chavez to run for reelection indefinitely.  (Howard Yanes / Associated Press)

Chavez waves to supporters from the balcony of Miraflores Palace on Feb. 15, 2009, after official results showed a referendum to end term limits passed.  (Fernando Llano / Associated Press)

Chavez kisses daughter Maria Gabriela, right, and embraces daughter Rosa Virginia after greeting supporters at a balcony of Miraflores Palace.  (Ariana Cubillos / Associated Press)

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Chavez hold hands after the Iranian’s arrival at Miraflores Palace on Jan. 9, 2012. Ahmadinejad visited with Chavez as tensions rose with the U.S. over Tehran’s nuclear program and a death sentence against an American man convicted of working for the CIA in Iran.  (Ariana Cubillos / Associated Press)

Chavez holds two pistols that he said belonged to Venezuela’s independence hero Simon Bolivar. Chavez held a ceremony on July 24, 2012, at Miraflores Palace marking the 229th anniversary of Bolivar’s birth. Bolivar is the namesake of Chavez’s socialist “Bolivarian Revolution.”  (Fernando Llano / Associated Press)

Chavez supporters attend a presidential campaign rally in Valencia, Venezuela, on Oct. 3, 2012. Chavez ran against Henrique Capriles.  (Rodrigo Abd / Associated Press)

Chavez dances after speaking at his closing reelection campaign rally in Caracas on Oct. 4, 2012.  (Ariana Cubillos / Associated Press)

Chavez supporters cheer in Caracas in October 2012 after polling stations closed and Venezuela’s electoral council said Chavez had won reelection.   (Rodrigo Abd / Associated Press)

A Venezuela sailor touches an image of Chavez on Dec. 13, 2012, after a Mass in support of his medical treatment in Havana. Venezuelan Vice President Nicolas Maduro said on Dec. 24 that he had spoken by phone with Chavez and that the leader was up and walking after cancer surgery.  (Ramon Espinosa / Associated Press)