President Hugo Chavez, the fiery populist who declared a socialist revolution in Venezuela and crusaded against US influence, died on Tuesday at the age of 58 after a nearly two-year bout with cancer.

A new and severe respiratory infection has hit cancer-stricken Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and his breathing has deteriorated.

Venezuela’s government has revealed for the first time that President Hugo Chavez has been receiving chemotherapy as he “continues his battle for life”.

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez is undergoing "tough and complex treatments" following cancer-related surgery, his deputy said.

Venezuela's currency is being devalued in a move expected to push up prices in the heavily import-reliant economy.

Venezuela's Supreme Court chief endorsed putting off President Hugo Chavez's inauguration, siding with the government in a heated dispute with the opposition while the ailing leader struggles with complications a month after cancer surgery in Cuba.

Venezuelan politicians voted to postpone the inauguration of ailing President Hugo Chavez for his new term, prompting complaints from opponents who called it a violation of the constitution.

Venezuela's vice president said today ailing President Hugo Chavez could be sworn in by the Supreme Court later on if he is not able to take the oath of office next week because of his struggle with cancer.

Venezuela's ailing President Hugo Chavez is being treated for a respiratory deficiency after complications from a severe lung infection, the government said today.

From the glittering new year’s ball dropping in New York’s Times Square to joyous fireworks in London and cheers in a once-isolated Asian country, the world did its best to ring in 2013 with hope for renewal after a year of economic uncertainty, searing violence and natural disasters.

Vice President Nicolas Maduro surprised Venezuelans with a Christmas Eve announcement that President Hugo Chavez is up and walking two weeks after cancer surgery in Cuba, but the news did little to ease uncertainty surrounding the leader’s condition.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has flown to Cuba for a third cancer operation after designating the vice president as his political heir.

Rumours are growing about the health of former Cuban leader Fidel Castro after a Venezuelan doctor claimed the 86-year-old had suffered a massive stroke.

President Hugo Chavez won re-election and a new endorsement of his socialist project, surviving his closest race yet after a bitter campaign in which the opposition accused him of unfairly using Venezuela’s oil wealth and his near total control of state institutions to his advantage.

Venezuela's National Assembly president said he has recovered control of his Twitter account after it was taken over in a purported online attack that unleashed a series of bogus messages saying a coup was under way.

Venezuela’s biggest oil refinery remained offline today after firefighters extinguished a blaze that raged for more than three days following an explosion that killed at least 41 people.

An intense fire at a Venezuelan refinery spread to a third fuel tank nearly three days after an explosion killed at least 41 people and injured more than 150.

A huge explosion rocked Venezuela’s biggest oil refinery and unleashed a ferocious fire, killing at least 39 people and injuring more than 80 others in one of the deadliest disasters ever to hit the country’s key oil industry.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said today that his government will pull out of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in protest after a ruling that he called a travesty.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez criticised international sanctions on Iran as he met with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The pope left Spanish-speaking Latin America’s most Roman Catholic country today on his way to its least.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez held an energetic homecoming celebration today, rallying thousands of supporters from a balcony of the presidential palace after nearly three weeks in Cuba for cancer surgery.

Venezuela's military high command reaffirmed its loyalty to President Hugo Chavez in a public show of support a day after Mr Chavez's departure for Cuba to undergo surgery removing a possibly cancerous tumour.

President Hugo Chavez bid an emotional farewell laced with references to Jesus Christ and independence hero Simon Bolivar as he departed Venezuela for Cuba for urgent surgery to remove a tumour he says is probably malignant.

President Hugo Chavez announced that doctors in Cuba found a new lesion in the same place where a cancerous tumour was removed last year and said that he is not deathly ill but will require surgery.

Venezuelans yesterday voted in the country’s first-ever opposition presidential primary, choosing a single challenger they hope will have what it takes to defeat President Hugo Chavez after 13 years in office.

Opposition politician Leopoldo Lopez bowed out of Venezuela’s presidential race, saying he will support his leading rival as the opposition seeks to field a single candidate to challenge President Hugo Chavez.

Venezuela plans to leave the World Bank’s international arbitration body and try to settle disputes with foreign companies within its own judicial system, Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said.

President Hugo Chavez defended his close ally Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, saying Iran is facing “US warmongering threats” amid tensions over its nuclear programme.

Nicaraguan president and one-time Sandinista revolutionary Daniel Ortega was re-elected in a landslide, according to results released today, overcoming a constitutional limit on re-election and reports of voting problems.

Two commuter trains collided in a tunnel outside Caracas, Venezuela, killing one person, injuring about 30 and leaving frightened passengers gasping for air in the dark.

US ACTOR Sean Penn engaged in attempts to secure the release of two Americans freed by Iran this week.

A new law regulating gold mining in Venezuela will require mining companies to sell all the gold they extract to the government.

President Hugo Chavez's approval ratings remain in the 50% range, but a majority of Venezuelans disapprove of the government's performance on key issues such as crime, corruption and the economy, according to a poll.

President Hugo Chavez said that he will undergo his next round of chemotherapy in Venezuela instead of Cuba, where he has had previous cancer treatments.

President Hugo Chavez has accused his opponents of representing US interests and trying to stir up discontent in Venezuela’s military while he undergoes cancer treatment in Cuba.

Politicians in Venezuela have approved a request by President Hugo Chavez to travel to Cuba today to undergo chemotherapy and the leader said he would leave in the coming hours.

Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez rallied a crowd of thousands of supporters vowing to win a “battle for life” after undergoing cancer surgery.

President Hugo Chavez made a surprise return to Venezuela from Cuba today, saying he was recovering from surgery that removed a cancerous tumour.

Allies of President Hugo Chavez assured Venezuelans the leftist leader is firmly in control of the country and improving after emergency surgery in Cuba, comments meant to dampen speculation about his health.

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez is said to be in a "critical" but stable condition, following emergency surgery in Cuba.

Leftist military man Ollanta Humala declared victory after unofficial results showed him narrowly winning a bitterly contested Peruvian presidential run-off against the daughter of disgraced former President Alberto Fujimori.

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has escaped a Nato missile strike in Tripoli, but one of his sons and three grandchildren under the age of 12 were killed, a government spokesman said.

MUAMMAR GADDAFI struck at rebel control of a key Libyan coastal road for a second day but received a warning he would be held to account at The Hague for suspected crimes by his security forces.