Iran blames Chavez death on CIA

Iranian media outlet MehrNews Wednesday all but laid the death of Hugo Chavez on the doorstep of the CIA, implying the Venezuelan president's death was part of a conspiracy to infect several Latin American leaders with cancer.

While it said it is not 100 percent certain that the CIA killed Chavez (it could have been "non-governmental assassins for the bankers"), MehrNews said that no matter how you look at his death, "The masters of the U.S. empire are undoubtedly responsible for giving Chavez and other Latin American leaders cancer."

MehrNews quoted a speech over a year ago that Chavez made on Venezuelan national radio:

"I don't know but … it is very odd that we have seen (former Paraguayan President Fernando) Lugo affected by cancer, (Brazilian President) Dilma (Rousseff) when she was a candidate, me, going into an election year, not long ago (Brazilian politician) Lula (da Silva) and now (Argentine President) Cristina (Fernandez). … It is very hard to explain, even with the law of probabilities, what has been happening to some leaders in Latin America. It's at the very least strange, very strange."

MehrNews said that, "We know that the bankers who own the U.S. government routinely try to kill any Latin American leader who refuses to be their puppet … so if you think Hugo Chavez died a natural death, I am afraid that you are terminally naïve."

Meanwhile, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in a letter to the interim president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, expressed his deep sadness over the death of Chavez, whom he called a courageous, highly spirited and honorable leader, a martyr of the South American country.

"Hugo Chavez is alive for justice, love and freedom," Ahmadinejad wrote. "He is alive for faith and holiness of human being. He is alive for the nations that are alive yearning for the establishment of independence, kindness and justice.

"I have no doubt that he will return alongside all the righteous and Jesus, and the only remainder of the righteous generation, the complete human being, will come and help the nations with the establishment of peace, complete justice, kindness and evolvement."

The Islamic regime called for a national day of mourning over the death of Chavez. Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast, referring to a possible role of "enemies" in Chavez's cancer said, "Experts should examine Chavez’s death and in case they find any evidence, they should inform the public."

Read how Obama's mentor praised Hugo Chavez's "generosity."

Russian Communist Party official Gennady Zyuganov also called into question Chavez's death. "How did it happen that six leaders of Latin American countries which had criticized U.S. policies and tried to create an influential alliance in order to be independent and sovereign states fell ill simultaneously with the same disease?" Zyuganov asked. "In my view, this was far from a coincidence."

According to the Russian news agency RIA Novosti, Chavez had once said, "Fidel (Castro) always told me, 'Chavez, take care. These people have developed technology. You are very careless. Take care what you eat, what they give you to eat … a little needle and they inject you with I don't know what,' … after he (Castro) had been diagnosed with cancer."

Embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad called the death of Chavez "a huge loss for the Syrian nation."

"The death of our brother and dear friend and the president of Venezuela, while a big loss for the Venezuelan nation and all free-minded of the world, is also a huge loss for me and the Syrian nation," Assad told Sana, the official news agency of Syria.

Chavez served as the president of Venezuela from 1999 until his death on March 5. He was diagnosed with cancer, undergoing surgery and chemotherapy in Cuba in 2011 with a further operation in 2012. Although he had hoped to have recovered from his illness, he announced in December that he needed further cancer surgery in Cuba.