Venezuela's vice president announced on national television that a U.S. Embassy attache was being expelled for meeting with military officers and planning to destabilize the country.
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Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez passed away today at the age of 58.
Vice President Nicolas Maduro says Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has died at age 58.
The populist leader of oil-rich Venezuela became Latin America's most vocal and controversial leader and was Washington's chief antagonist in the region.
Late Monday, Communications Minister Ernesto Villegas said Chavez was suffering from "a new, severe infection." The state news agency identified it as a respiratory infection.
Chavez had been undergoing "chemotherapy of strong impact," Villegas added without providing further details.
Chavez was neither seen nor heard from, except for photos released in mid-February, since submitting to a fourth round of surgery in Cuba on Dec. 11 for an unspecified cancer in the pelvic area. It was first diagnosed in June 2011.
Chavez's death was announced after Venezuela's vice president announced on national television that a U.S. Embassy attache was being expelled for meeting with military officers and planning to destabilize the country.
Foreign Minister Elias Jaua also announced the expulsion of a second U.S. official, also a U.S. Air Force attache.
Vice President Nicolas Maduro told Venezuela's high military command and civilian leaders that the U.S. Embassy's Air Force attache, Col. David Delmonaco, had 24 hours to leave the country. He said the official had been spying on Venezuela's military.
U.S. Embassy spokesman Greg Adams confirmed Delmonaco's identity but had no immediate comment.
Supporters of the 58-year-old president visited churches to pray for Chavez's health after the the government described his condition as "very delicate" after undergoing cancer surgery in December.