Former U.S. President George Bush and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez embrace prior to their breakfast meeting in Houston, Texas, June 11, 1999. Chavez was concluding a visit to the United States that included a stop in New York. Getty ImagesVenezuela’s President Hugo Chavez (center) embraces Zimbabwe’s former President Robert Mugabe, behind former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, during the official photograph of the Group of 77 South Summit, in Havana, April 12, 2000. Twenty-seven heads of State and 15 Prime Ministers from the Group attended the summit. Getty ImagesVenezuelan President Hugo Chavez tours Ground Zero of the World Trade Center site in New York on November 10, 2001. Getty ImagesVenezuelan President Hugo Chavez poses with Venezuelan major league baseball players (from left) Kelvim Escobar of the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Mets players Melvin Mora, Roger Cedeno and Edgardo Alfonso June 9, 1999, before the Mets game against the Blue Jays at Shea Stadium in Flushing, N.Y. Chavez threw out the ceremonial first pitch. Getty ImagesIn this July 24, 2012 file photo, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez holds up a pair of pistols that he says belonged to Venezuela’s independence hero Simon Bolivar during a ceremony marking the 229th anniversary of Bolivar’s birth, at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela. AP PhotoVenezuelan President Hugo Chavez speaks as his wife Marisabel de Chavez wipes sweat from his face as he celebrates the results of the July 30, 2000, presidential elections in Caracas. With 77 percent of the vote counted, official results gave Chavez a large margin with 2.9 million votes. His opponent Francisco Arias Cardenas received 1.8 million votes. Getty ImagesBritish Queen Elizabeth II and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez pose for a picture at Buckingham Palace in London, October 24, 2001. Chavez was on a European tour. Getty ImagesA picture released by the Cuban newspaper Juventud Rebelde on January 30, 2007, Cuban President Fidel Castro and his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez are seen. Cuba’s ailing Castro was shown on Cuban television telling his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez that his recovery was “far from being a lost battle.” Getty ImagesU.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, second left, shakes hands with Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez, right, next to Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos, left, and Chile’s President Sebastian Pinera during the inauguration ceremony of Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff, unseen, at the Planalto presidential palace in Brasilia, Brazil, Saturday, Jan. 1, 2011. Getty ImagesIraqi President Saddam Hussein meets with his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez in Baghdad August 10, 2000. Getty ImagesLibyan leader Muammar Qaddafi (left) and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez greet supporters in Porlamar, Margarita Island, in northwestern Venezuela, on September 28, 2009. Getty ImagesVenezuela’s President Hugo Chavez makes the victory sign after a meeting with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2011. Chavez underwent surgery in Cuba in June that removed a cancerous tumor from his pelvic region, and shaved his head after starting to lose his hair due to chemotherapy. AP PhotoVenezuela’s President Hugo Chavez greets supporters next to his two daughters – Rosa Virginia, left, and Maria Gabriela – on a balcony of the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, July 4, 2011. AP PhotoVenezuelan President Hugo Chavez, left, jokes with actor Sean Penn during his visit to Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, on Feb. 16, 2012. GETTYVenezuela’s President Hugo Chavez salutes troops during an event marking the 74th anniversary of the National Guard at the military academy in Fuerte Tiuna in Caracas, Venezuela, Aug. 4, 2011. AP PhotoMembers of OPEC pose for the official photo at the end of their September 28, 2000 summit in Caracas. From left: The Emir of Qatar Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Iraqi Vice Prime Minister Taha Yassin Ramadan, Iranian President Muhammad Khatami, Libyan Housing Secretary Mustapha Al Kharrubi, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Sheik Hamad Ibn Muhammad Al-Sharqi of the United Arab Emirates, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz Al-Saud, Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid, Crown Prince of Kuwait Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah and Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo. Getty ImagesVenezuela’s President Hugo Chavez, center, greets supporters during a caravan from Miraflores government palace to Simon Bolivar airport in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, Feb. 24, 2012. AP PhotoVenezuela’s President Hugo Chavez, left, and Cuba’s President Raul Castro raise hands prior to the inauguration ceremony of a summit by the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, CELAC, in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, Dec. 2, 2011. AP PhotoVenezuela’s President Hugo Chavez left, and Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, then-President of Brazil, chat during the inauguration ceremony for the construction of a joint refinery project set up by the two countries on Dec. 15, 2005, in Recife, Brazil. Getty ImagesVenezuelan President Hugo Chavez takes his cap off during a welcoming ceremony for Bolivian President Evo Morales at the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Sept. 17, 2011. AP PhotoVenezuela’s President Hugo Chavez, left, welcomes Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad upon his arrival at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, Jan. 9, 2012. AP PhotoVenezuelan President Hugo Chavez poses for a photo with his daughters, Maria Gabriela, left, and Rosa Virginia at an unknown location in Havana, Cuba, Feb. 14, 2013. It was the last published photo of the leader. AP Photo
