Chavez's successor in Venezuela: Nicolas Maduro

Vice President Nicolas Maduro is taking over leadership of Hugo Chavez's political movement after the socialist leader died Tuesday at age 58 following a nearly two-year bout with cancer. Maduro now faces the daunting task of rallying support in a deeply divided country while maintaining unity within his party's ranks. Maduro decidedly lacks the vibrant personality that made Chavez a one-man political phenomenon in Venezuela, but he has the advantage of being Chavez's hand-picked successor. The mustachioed 50-year-old former bus driver won Chavez's trust as a loyal spokesman who echoed the president's stances. How Maduro will lead in Chavez's...

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Venezuela's Chavez dies, officials call for unity

Some in anguish, some in fear, Venezuelans raced for home and stocked up on food and water Tuesday after the government announced the death of President Hugo Chavez, the larger-than-life firebrand socialist who led the nation for 14 years. Vice President Nicolas Maduro's voice broke and tears ran down his face as he appeared on national television to announce that Chavez died at 4:25 p.m. local time (3:55 p.m. EST, 1755 GMT) "after battling hard against an illness over nearly two years." He did not say what exactly killed Chavez, although the government had announced the previous night that a severe new respiratory infection had severely...

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Devastated, mourning Chavez supporters pour onto streets

Grieving and stunned supporters of deceased Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez took to the streets on Tuesday weeping, chanting slogans and vowing to continue their hero's revolution. Gathering in streets and squares across the South American nation of 29 million people, backers of the socialist leader shouted: "Chavez lives forever!" and "The fight continues!" "We have to show that what he did was not in vain," said Jamila Rivas, 49, crying outside the military hospital where Chavez died. Hundreds of supporters flocked there. Venezuelans have been tracking the ups-and-downs of Chavez's two-year battle against cancer, but some supporters...

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