In the heavily-populated Venezuelan Diaspora of Doral, Florida, many Venezuelans waved their country’s flag and voiced hope for change in their South American homeland.
“We are not celebrating death,” Ana San Jorge, 37, was quoted by the Associated Press as saying, in the Miami suburb of Doral. “We are celebrating the opening of a new door, of hope and change.”
But at the Organization of American States and in Caribbean nations where Chavez’s Petro Caribe program helped many, his passing was greeted with sadness.
“It is a time of great sorrow for Venezuelans and we stand with them, together with all the peoples of the region,” said the OAS Secretary General, José Miguel Insulza.
The Chair of the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS), Ambassador Denis Moncada Colindres, Permanent Representative of Nicaragua, sent expressions of deep sorrow and heartfelt condolences to the people of Venezuela on behalf of the
The flags of the OAS have been placed at half mast and a special meeting of the OAS Permanent Council will be convened in memory of President Chávez.
President of the Inter-American Development Bank, Luis Alberto Moreno, also expressed his condolences to the government and the people of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
“President Chávez was known for his deep concern for the poor, his enthusiasm for Latin American and Caribbean unity, and his solidarity with other nations,” Moreno said. “Venezuela’s generous support for Haiti following the earthquake of 2010 was just one example of that commitment. With his passing, the cause of regional integration loses one of its great champions.”
In Jamaica, Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, expressed deep and profound sadness at the passing, describing him as “a faithful and avowed friend of Jamaica”.
“Although it was well known that President Chavez was battling very serious health issues, I was always of the view that the brave and courageous fighter that he was, would have led him to overcome the challenge with which he was afflicted. This was not to be and we will have to live with the reality of him not being with us anymore,” she said in a statement.
I will miss him dearly. Long live my friend. Long live Mr. President. Gone but not forgotten. On behalf of the government and people of Jamaica I express sincere condolences to his family and the government and people of Venezuela during this period of grief”, the Prime Minister concluded.
Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit of Dominica declared a national state of mourning for Chavez.
“For many of us here in Dominica, this was not just another Head of State or Head of Government of a sister isle. Hugo Chavez was a true friend of Dominica…indeed he was Dominican in many respects,” he told the nation last night. “Each of us feels that special sense of loss because of the genuine friendship and love that President Chavez expressed and manifested for and towards Dominica and Dominicans.”
While Haiti’s President Michel Martelly took to Twitter to offer his “sincere condolences to the people of Venezuela on the passing.
Chavez died after a two year battle with cancer in the pelvic. He was 58 and has recently been re-elected for another term with 55 percent of the votes.
He will long be remembered for his political clashes with the U.S. and his speech at the U.N. where he called then President Bush, “the devil.”
But not all in the U.S. dismissed in death. Bronx Congressman Jose Serrano, who had previously struck a deal with Chavez to import Venezuelan oil to help heat homes in the Bronx, released a longer statement on Chavez’s passing on his House website, reading in part:
“Though President Chavez was accused of many things, it is important to remember that he was democratically-elected many times in elections that were declared free and fair by international monitors. Even today, people in North America seem unable to accept that Venezuelans had taken our admonitions to have democracy to heart and elected the leader of their choice.
President Chavez was a controversial leader. But at his core he was a man who came from very little and used his unique talents and gifts to try to lift up the people and the communities that reflected his impoverished roots. He believed that the government of the country should be used to empower the masses, not the few. He understood democracy and basic human desires for a dignified life. His legacy in his nation, and in the hemisphere, will be assured as the people he inspired continue to strive for a better life for the poor and downtrodden.”
While former President Jimmy Carter , lauded the man, noting that while he did not agree with all his methods, he “never doubted Hugo Chávez’s commitment to improving the lives of millions of his fellow countrymen.”
And Actor Sean Penn said he lost a friend in Chavez.
“Today the people of the United States lost a friend it never knew it had. And poor people around the world lost a champion.” Penn was quoted by The Hollywood Reporter as saying. “I lost a friend I was blessed to have.”
