Opposition leader Henrique Capriles has also offered his condolences and appealed for unity.

 

　　Hugo Chavez passed away at the age of 58 on Tuesday afternoon in a hospital in Caracas.

 

　　He lost a two-year battle with cancer after his condition suddenly worsened this week.

 

　　He came to power in 1999 after being released from prison for coordinating a military coup some years earlier.

 

　　He became very popular among the working-class community in Venezuela.

 

　　Last year Chavez was elected to another 6-year term in office, and shortly after that he flew to Cuba for a third cancer surgery.

 

　　At the moment, Vice President Nicolas Maduro has taken over the presidential duties temporarily, with an election scheduled within a month.

 

　　He is calling on the Venezuelan people to carry on Chavez's legacy.

 

　　"We're going to miss him until the last day of our lives but we carry on his legacy here and we will carry it on with strength. May our people know that the democratic, revolutionary, anti-imperialist and socialist legacy of our Commandant is carried on with firmness, with absolute loyalty."

 

　　Meanwhile, the international community have also joined the mourning, with the Chinese Foreign Ministry's spokesperson Hua Chunying, praising Chavez as a leader as well as a person.

 

　　"Chavez is an outstanding state leader of Venezuela. He is also a good friend of Chinese people, who made significant contributions to the development of the friendly cooperation between our two countries. The Communist Party of China, the Chinese government and the Chinese people all cherish the traditional friendship with Venezuela. We are willing to work with the Venezuelan side to continuously deepen bilateral strategic partnership based on common development so as to bring benefits to their people."

 

　　The United Nations Chief, Ban Ki Moon, has sent his condolences to Chavez's family.

 

　　"As President of Venezuela, he has been making his own contributions to his country's development. At the same time, as Secretary General, while I will be able to issue a more formal statement, I'd like to convey my deepest condolences to the families and people and the government of Venezuela on the loss of President Chavez on that."

 

　　US President Barack Obama meanwhile says they're also willing to improve ties with the Venezuelan government.

 

　　At the same time, Argentine President Cristina Fernandez has declared three days of mourning and flags to be flown at half mast.

 

　　Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff calls the death an "irreparable loss" to the region, while leaders from Britain, Canada and France have also offered condolences to Venezuela.

 

　　For more on Chavez's death and its regional as well as global impact, CRI's Rebecca Hume earlier spoke with Latin American studies expert, Dr. Anthea Jones from the University of Canberra.

 

　　That was Dr. Anthea Jones from the University of Canberra, speaking to CRI's Rebecca Hume about the death of the Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.