How big of a loss to the world is Hugo Chavez's death?

If Chavez was elected through a legitimate democratic process (as it seems) then the process is paramount and will continue more or less the same without him. Just as if the president of the US died, or the prime minister of England or Canada.

The only time the death of a leader brings great change to a country is if he -is- the state (L'etat, c'est moi!). If his power is a cult of personality. In other words, a despot, a tyrant.

Conservatives in the US called Chavez a 'tyrant' because he wouldn't play ball with US foreign policy, he wouldn't sell out his people for his own self-aggrandizement. National leaders over the years who have refused to sell out have been villified by the US and some have been booted out of office by the US--Mohammed Mossadegh of Iran, Jacabo Arbenz of Guatemala, even Saddam Hussein, who started out as a US stooge and was called "our friend in the region" and then decided to stop working for the US and was 'worse than Hitler'.

But the policies about maintaining control over their own oil industry, so as to keep more of the wealth in the country and raise the standard of living of Venezuelans rather than to enrich multi-national oil companies, that wasn't just Chavez's idea, it was a national policy. And presumably whoever is president next will continue the policy.

If there is an election to replace Chavez, you can bet your rent that the CIA will field some fake candidate and finance him better than any of the legitimate candidates. I don't think we'll be able to send the Marines, pretending to put down a 'rebellion', as we've been known to do in the past. But there will be meddling, both overt and covert, in an attempt to pick leaders for Venezuela who will cooperate with us. I'm doubting it will work, but you never know.

It's a well know fact the CIA have been trying to kill Chavez for a while now. They obviously took lessons from the Russians with their radiation smoothies. It's becoming more and more popular to poison people this way producing cancer.

I hope an autopsy will be preformed giving more evidence of how wicked the satanic globerlist mafia is, inside the U.S.Federal Government.

Here's what he did; the Chavez family is left with a $2billion (that's a B), inheritance. Where did he get that money? From oil exports and, the Treasury of the United States of America(your tax dollars at work, not at home). A dictator, a thug, and socialist. May he burn in the fires of Hades forever!

It is a hugh lost he was a great leader who changed Venezuela for the better .

The world? I guess it depends on how much you think it really effects it all. Who knows maybe the U.S. will insert a sort of puppet president to increase Venezuela's domestic oil exports to America or maybe just maybe the U.S. will stay out of it and actually let Venezuela elect its own. Btw I live in America, actually not to far from D.C. and as a citizen I personally don't agree with nearly anything the governemt is doing. We should only act on other countries in time of need, not for political or monetary gain.

Just another commie dictator gone - good riddance.

Don't know about the loss to the world thing, but it's gonna be a gain for wall street. Oil, oil, oil, beautiful, profitable oil!

You know nothing of Hugo Chavez. He changed the countries Constitution to allow a president to serve three terms in his second term. - That would never be possible in the united states.

Also about half the country hated him. The last election was very close. And I'm sure full of corruption on Chavez's part.

A German general once said, the dead are lucky. its all over for them, i believe it was Rommel.

He was popular with his own people. you can't ask for more