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Mr. Chávez would have enjoyed the comparisons to Christ and Mr. Bolívar. "He wanted to be the Bolívar of the 21st century," said Enrique Krauze, a leading Mexican historian and author of "Redeemers," about Latin America's messianic caudillos, or charismatic political leaders. The late president often saw himself as a reincarnation of the 19th-century patriot who liberated five countries and sought to unite the former Spanish colonies, say former colleagues.

1. Production quotas on all forms of food, including rice, the country’s primary food item. 2. Price controls on anything from cooking oil to sugar to coffee. Rice, for instance, was only allowed to be sold for 2.15 bolivars ($0.34USD), but cost 4.41 bolivars ($0.70USD) to produce. 3. Both of these policies led to extreme food shortages. For most families, especially the lower- and middle-classes, grocery shopping was a hit or miss. They would be lucky enough to grab a roll of toilet paper. 4. Prior to Chavez’s death, the oil-rich Latin American nation struggled with the worst food shortage...

Wolf Blitzer: “What do you say to the Venezuelans, not only in the opposition but those who have fled the country, who considered Hugo Chavez a vile dictator?” Jesse Jackson: “Well, you know, democracies mature, Our first 15 presidents owned people. They owned slaves. Democracies mature.” Read more: http://conservativevideos.com/2013/03/jesse-jackson-compares-hugo-chavez-to-founding-fathers/#ixzz2N5Yp4HNE

Venezuela's Hugo Chavez slid into a coma the day before he died of respiratory failure after cancer spread into his lungs, sources say. Chavez's precise condition was one of the world's best-kept secrets since his cancer was announced in June 2011. Since his death this week, however, details have emerged of the 58-year-old president's battle with cancer and the last moments in the hospital with close family and senior aides.

Caracas, Venezuela, Mar 6, 2013 / 12:01 pm (CNA).- A source in Venezuela has revealed to CNA that President Hugo Chavez died “in bosom of the Church” and received spiritual direction and the sacraments in his last days. In announcing Chavez’s death to the nation on March 5, Vice President Nicolas Maduro said the Venezuelan leader died “clinging to Christ.” The source in Venezuela told CNA that during the last weeks of his life, Chavez requested spiritual direction and asked to receive the sacraments. Ever since he assumed power in 1999, Chavez butted heads continuously with the Catholic Church over...

The mourners lamenting the death of late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez included the presidents of Iran and Cuba, a Spanish prince and a man that Chavez himself once floated as a possible American ambassador to Venezuela: Hollywood actor Sean Penn. Penn flew to Caracas for the Friday funeral, where he was filmed among the mourning crowd. Earlier this week, he called Chavez “a great hero to the majority of his people.”

Scenes of mass grief and hysteria have accompanied the deaths of many dictators, from the Soviet Union’s Josef Stalin in 1953 to North Korea’s Kim Jong-Il in 2011. The public mourning in Venezuela following the death this week of the country’s Socialist President Hugo Chavez from cancer at the age of 58 will be played out for weeks. The Venezuelan people have been whipped into hysteria by the propaganda of the sinister — and aggressively anti-American — political machine Chavez left behind as his legacy. The complete collapse in law and order in his country meant crime spiralled out of...

The Obama administration has sent an official three-person delegation to Caracas to attend Friday’s funeral for deceased Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. According to US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland, they are former Massachusetts Congressman William Delahunt, U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York and State Department diplomat James Derham. Chavez´s funeral is being attended by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Cuban President Raul Castro and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, all of whom, like Chavez, have their issues with Western capitalist society.

CARACAS, Venezuela -- Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. will be attending the state funeral for Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Friday in Caracas, the nation's capital. Jackson, founder of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, will be leading a delegation organized by the civil rights organization -- which is separate from the official U.S. delegation

Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez died of a massive heart attack after great suffering and inaudibly mouthed his desire to live, the head of the country's presidential guard said. "He couldn't speak but he said it with his lips … 'I don't want to die. Please don't let me die,' because he loved his country, he sacrificed himself for his country," General Jose Ornella said. The general said he had spent the past two years with Chávez, including his final moments, as Venezuela's president of 14 years battled an unspecified cancer in the pelvic region.

Socialism: The left is out in force, bleating its praise for deceased Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez as a champion of the poor. It's a big lie. Fact is, Chavez hurt the poor, not just in Venezuela, but all over the world. Chavez's death from cancer Tuesday set off a chorus of wailing from the left's politicos, media and movie stars, hailing Chavez as a friend of the poor. "President Chavez cared deeply about the poor," declared Citizens Energy President Joe Kennedy, who's made it his business to distribute Chavez's oil handouts to the poor to help the dictator's political ends....

If you drove by CITGO’s corporate headquarters yesterday you would have seen what many consider a disturbing sight. Many Houstonians are up in arms after driving by CITGO's Eldridge Parkway headquarters and noticing the U.S., Texas and Venezuelan flags being flown at half staff, and you let your feeling show on Matt Patrick's afternoon show. “I gave them a call, and the operator told me that it was in observance and respect of the death of Hugo Chavez,” Teddy told Matt Patrick on his afternoon show on The 9-5-0 yesterday. Teddy wasn’t satisfied with the company’s explanation. “I told the...

Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has been criticised for saying that Hugo Chávez will be resurrected along with Jesus Christ in his tribute to the Venezuelan president who died on Tuesday.

The White House, in an effort tamp down viral rumors, took the unusual step of releasing a statement that President Barack Obama is “alive and well.” The terse statement comes in response to internet rumors that a charismatic, eloquent, leader who swept to power promising to take money from the petroleum industry to fund entitlement programs, had died. The White House clarified that it was, in fact, Venezuela’s socialist President Hugo Chavez who passed away after a long battle with cancer. “Some people just skim the news, or hear a snippet as they walk by the TV,” said White House...

President Hugo Chavez died of a massive heart attack after great suffering and inaudibly mouthed his desire to live, the head of Venezuela's presidential guard said late Wednesday. "He couldn't speak but he said it with his lips ... 'I don't want to die. Please don't let me die,' because he loved his country, he sacrificed himself for his country," Gen. Jose Ornella told The Associated Press.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wins the crown for praise of Hugo Chavez, declaring in a letter to the Venezuelan people that Chavez will be resurrected with Jesus and a revered Shiite imam, reports the Guardian. “I have no doubt he will come again along with all the righteous people and the Prophet Jesus and the only successor of the righteous generation, the perfect human,” he said, the latter referring to the Hidden Imam, explains the New York Times. Ahmadinejad also agrees with Venezuela's government that Chavez's death is a little fishy.

In the flesh he seemed indestructible. Hugo Chávez was not especially tall, but he was built like one of the tanks he once commanded. He was possessed of seemingly inexhaustible energy. He travelled incessantly, both around his vast country and abroad. Each Sunday he would host live television shows lasting up to 12 hours. He would ring up ministers in the early hours of the morning to harangue them. For 14 years, everything that happened in Venezuela passed through his hands, or so he liked to think. Yet Mr Chávez turned out to have been as reckless with his health...

Hollywood bids a fond farewell to Hugo Chavez By: Patrick Gavin March 6, 2013 07:05 AM EST As the legacy of Hugo Chavez gets debated in the wake of his passing, filmmakers Michael Moore and Oliver Stone took to Twitter to praise the late Venezuelan president. “You won’t hear much nice about him in the US media in the next few days. So, I thought I’d say a couple things to provide some balance” wrote Moore. “Hugo Chavez declared the oil belonged 2 the ppl. He used the oil $ 2 eliminate 75% of extreme poverty, provide free health &...

According to a Mortgage Bankers Association release this morning, mortgage applications were up 14.8% from the previous week. Mortgage purchase applications rose 15.04% from the previous week. But in the general scheme of things, we are still stuck in a lower volume rut (as Chris Whalen and I discussed in Zero Hedge in October 2010). Mortgage refinancing applications rose 14.77% from the previous week. But one week doesn’t make a trend. In other economic news, factory orders fell 2.0% in January. And the stock market continues to rise. The Dow is up over 50 point as of 10:15am EST. And...

The controversial leader had a slew of Hollywood heavyweights supporting him throughout his reign, with the most vocal two being actor Sean Penn and filmmaker Oliver Stone. "Today the people of the United States lost a friend it never knew it had. And poor people around the world lost a champion," says Penn in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. "I lost a friend I was blessed to have. My thoughts are with the family of President Chavez and the people of Venezuela."