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Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez dies: A life in pictures

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has died at the age of 58 after 14 years in power. The  controversial leader was a critic of the West, supporter of the poor, a symbol of Latin American socialism and a talk show host. He rose to power in 1998 after gaining fame after a failed coup in 1992. He counted Fidel Castro, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as his allies. He used the country's oil wealth to pursue socialist policies that lifted the poorest people out of poverty but alienated businesses and the middle class. He died in a military hospital in Caracas after a long battle with cancer.